ALTR
by CrazyOtaku3
Summary: When you live in a world full of saiyans, apes, aliens, humans, androids, dragons, and more, things get a little crazy. But it's alright. Trunks, Goten, Pan and Bra have each other. They'll take on that crazy. Together. REWRITE: Previously named 'A Life to Remember'
1. Chapter 1

**Hi. It's been a while. I'm starting this story over because I thought I could do better this time around. Sorry I haven't been around. I wrote the original when I was in 7****th**** grade. I'm now a senior in high school. Let's see what's different. **

**THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW: **

**Pan is Goku and Chi-Chi's daughter. **

**Marron is not born until after the Majin Buu saga (Idrk why I decided to do this but I wanna keep my ideas for the original story the same). **

**In the Cell Games, Goku died. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball Z, or any of its characters. **

**. . . **

"_Gohan! I'm sorry, but this is the only way! I love you, son. Take care of your mother! And tell her that I love her!" _

Those were Goku's final words before he used Instant Transmission to defeat Cell. It had stuck with Gohan and plagued his dreams and every thought. It, essentially, was his fault his father had to sacrifice himself during the Cell Games. Of course, Chi-Chi had mourned over the death of her husband, but was forced to pull herself together soon after:

She was _pregnant_.

Call it a parting gift from Goku before he left. A little while after that, what shocked Chi-Chi even more was that she wasn't only pregnant with Goku's _child_, she was pregnant with his _children._

There were _twins _growing inside of her!

She found out a few months later that they were a boy and a girl. Bulma, during all this, was ecstatic. Chi-Chi's blue haired friend already had her hands full with an infant Trunks, but she was more than willing to help Chi-Chi out with everything she could provide.

"So, have you thought of any names lately?" Bulma asked one afternoon as she and Chi-Chi sat together in the Briefs' kitchen. Chi-Chi was scheduled to have an appointment to see how the babies were doing and she had asked Bulma to come along with her since Gohan was busy running errands. Bulma accepted the invitation without any hesitation.

"What?" Chi-Chi asked, looking up from her paper. Bulma pat a sleeping Trunks softly as he squirmed slightly in her arms. "Have you thought of any names for the babies?" Bulma repeated.

Chi-Chi gave her a small smile. "Not me." She said honestly. "But Gohan once said he liked the names Goten and Pan." Bulma's eyes brightened.

"Chi, those sound perfect!" she said softly, as to not wake her baby. "Goten for the boy and Pan for the girl. They have a Son hint to them too." Bulma chuckled.

Chi-Chi smiled, looking at the time. 4:00. Setting down her paper, she told Bulma that they should go if they didn't want to miss their appointment. Bulma had left Trunks with her parents and promised that she and Chi-Chi wouldn't take long, should he wake up. Before long, the two women were off to see how the Son twins were doing.

**XxX**

They got to the place, thankfully without any hindrance. The doctors (or whatever you call them, I'm really not an expert on this) led Chi-Chi to the room and informed her that her babies were doing just fine. They were healthy and for that, she was happy.

"Only a week left, Mrs. Son." The lady who had given Chi-Chi the ultrasound informed her. "You must be so excited."

"Oh, believe me, we all are." Bulma said as Chi-Chi gingerly lay her hands on her belly. She and Bulma began to chat and point at the picture of the babies as the lady filled out something on her paper.

"They're healthy and they're beautiful." Bulma told her. She smiled at Chi-Chi. "Just like their mother." She added, softly.

Chi-Chi smiled a watery smile. "Thank you, Bulma." She said, voice thick with emotion. Bulma lay a hand on her friend's shoulder. "He would have been so proud." She nearly whispered, lowering her voice as to not let the lady hear.

Chi-Chi nodded.

"I know."

**XxX**

"Vegeta! We are _going_ to the hospital whether you like it or not!" Bulma hissed as she led her husband to the car, having a death grip on his arm.

"Let go, woman!" he hissed, however he made no move to try and free himself (though he could, easily.)

"You're _going._" Bulma stressed. She saw her husband scowl and she narrowed her eyes. "Don't make me threaten you." She warned.

Vegeta snorted. "With what?"

"I'll turn off the Gravity Room for a month." Bulma said, glaring. Vegeta grunted an annoyed grunt, but Bulma found it easier to drag him, so she smirked with her victory.

Trunks was already strapped in the car, his eyes wide and shining. Bulma checked him over one more time to make sure his seatbelts weren't loose before she kissed him on the nose, making him squeal in delight.

"Ma." The one year old giggled, feeling at his mother's blue hair. He then proceeded to give her a confused look, noticing how it was night time and they usually were putting him to sleep about now.

"Hospital, baby." Bulma answered. Trunks' eyes went wide, and they started to water slightly. "Oh no, no, it's not like that, baby. Mommy isn't sick." She reassured him, shaking her head. "Auntie Chi-Chi is having her babies!"

Trunks let out a gasp, beaming. Bulma laughed. "Wanna go see them?" she asked, already knowing the answer. The boy squealed, excited, as Bulma laughed and kissed him on his forehead once again.

"That's the spirit! Now let's go!"

**XxX**

Chi-Chi panted as another scream ripped through her.

"Mom!" Gohan yelled, his grip on her hand tightening reassuringly. Usually, they wouldn't let in the children while the mother was in active labor, but Chi-Chi needed someone there by her side. They already gave her an epidural to help lessen the pain, but when giving birth to two half-saiyans? It didn't give much help.

"Come on, mom! Goten and Pan are almost here!" Gohan offered her reassuring words as he continued to hold her hand. Apparently, the names that he had suggested for his siblings ended up becoming their official ones. Chi-Chi grit her teeth as she let out one final push.

A baby's cry could be heard, and the doctors were quick to help Chi-Chi get it out. "It's a boy!" the doctor said happily as he got the baby cleaned. Gohan beamed at his new sibling as he got handed to the nurse to be cleaned. Chi-Chi smiled weakly, but it soon disappeared when she felt her other baby coming out.

Chi-Chi screamed as another baby's cry could be heard throughout the room. The doctor repeated the procedure with this one, and before long, both saiyan-human hybrid twin babies were out, cleaned, dressed, and in their mother's arms.

"Wow, mom." Gohan whispered as everything got settled down. He stared at his sleeping siblings with tears in his eyes. "They look exactly like you and dad." He was handed the twins not long after, and began to play with them, cooing softly at the babies. Goten was wrapped in a blue blanket while Pan was wrapped in a pink one. Chi-Chi smiled at the sight of her children. Now, she had three pieces of Goku with her. Three pieces to love and cherish forever.

There was a knock at the door before it opened, Bulma's head poking inside. She caught sight of the babies, before her eyes lit up and she walked into the room, Trunks in her arms, shyly hiding his face away. Gohan and Chi-Chi smiled at the small boy, the woman waving. Trunks waved back to her, before he caught sight of the babies in Gohan's arms.

"Oh, Chi…" Bulma breathed, looking at the two sleeping children. "They're beautiful…" "What's their names?" Trunks asked, keeping his eyes on the twins.

"This is Goten." Gohan introduced his siblings, cocking his head to the right, where he held Goten. "And this is Pan." He said, doing the same thing to the opposite side.

"Pan." Trunks repeated the name as he stared at the sleeping saiyaness. Bulma felt a tug on her lips as she watched her son.

"Say," Chi-Chi spoke up. "Why don't you give Trunks to me? So you can hold the twins." Bulma looked to the boy, leaning him towards Chi-Chi. The boy went from her arms into his aunt's, as she hugged him.

"You're so big now." Chi-Chi said, making it sound like they hadn't seen each other in a while, though they had seen each other a few days prior. However, it made Trunks giggle. "How old are you now?"

"One!" the boy chirped, holding out one finger. Chi-Chi chuckled and ruffled his lavender hair. The small boy turned to watch his mother cradling Goten, cooing about how he had Goku's hair.

"You wanna try holding one?" Chi-Chi asked him. The boy responded by nodding shyly. She smiled and called over to Gohan, who still had Pan.

"Hey, kiddo." Gohan greeted Trunks by using one hand to ruffle his hair. "Wanna hold my new sister?" Trunks once again nodded shyly. Gohan smiled. "Alright."

With both Chi-Chi's and Gohan's help, Trunks was able to get Pan in his arms, holding her properly. He couldn't hold her by himself just yet, but he didn't seem annoyed that he couldn't, content that he was able to hold her. Chi-Chi wasn't surprised. Pan was small. She was tiny, even tinier than Goten. But the protective look she saw in both Gohan's and Trunks' eyes, _especially _Trunks, she knew that size would not be a problem for her baby.

"Oh, Trunks!" Bulma almost squealed (which she might have done if she didn't have a newborn in her arms.) "I wish I could get a picture."

They spent nearly an hour in the small room until Vegeta eventually got irked and bored of the food court (mostly because it closed) and the Briefs family had to leave. Trunks didn't want to let go of Pan. It made both Bulma and Chi-Chi smile to see the bond forming between the two, but Bulma noticed how her son was getting sleepy, and how his father was losing his patience, so she coaxed him to leave, telling him that they would be back the next day.

It was quite comedic as the Briefs prepared to go. Goten had opened his eyes and let out a small sound at the sight of Trunks and Bulma. Trunks locked eyes with him and rose his eyebrow, before they left.

Both Goten and Pan were back in their mother's arms, Chi-Chi's eyes drooping because of how tired she was.

"Rest, Mom." Gohan told her, laying a hand on her shoulder, gently. He took the twins from her, one by one, laying them in their small cribs next to the bed. Chi-Chi couldn't help but smile at how good Gohan was at this already. Her thoughts shifted to her husband, imagining how he would react to his new children.

No doubt he'd be over the moon. Chi-Chi chuckled as Gohan holding Goten switched to Goku holding Gohan for the first time.

_Oh, how she missed him… _

But she wasn't sad. She couldn't be. Her babies were finally here, and they had so many people that would offer them love and comfort. She would love them until her own heart gave out. A warm feeling covered her, as she faded away, into her dreams.

**. . . **

**You remember what I said about me waiting until I completed the story to post? Well, fuck it. I don't have all the chapters written, but I'll update when I can.**

**Yeah, the endgame (couples) is pretty obvious. This is pretty much just my own take on the Dragon Ball Z series if Pan was born as Goten's twin instead of his niece and if Trunks and Goten were joined by Pan and Bra as friends in childhood. **

**At first I wanted it to be about Trunks and Pan, cause they're my OTP, but then I realized I would basically be re-writing 'Butterflies,' a fanfiction by The-Kaitastrophe. (Awesome fic, btw, that is my inspiration for this, and is my inspiration for coming back, even though I dislike anime now.) So, I decided to focus on the bond between the four of them. There will be romantic bonds, Trunks and Pan, Goten and Bra, but it will focus more on the bond (of friendship, essentially) they have together. **

**Apologies if they're OOC. I actually haven't watched DBZ in years, but I found this story and I remembered what I wanted for it, so I wanted to write it again. **

**Also, apologies for a more depressed Chi-Chi in this version. I found myself conveying the idea more bluntly in the original version, so I tried to make it more subtle here. Knowing me, it probably didn't work, but oh well. **

**I tried. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball Z or any of its characters.**

**. . . **

"Okay. We'll be right there." Chi-Chi said into the phone before hanging up. Pan looked at her mother, confused.

"Where, mama?" the one-year-old asked, watching as Chi-Chi dried her hands and quickly shut off the stoves. The woman then picked up her youngest daughter, beaming down at her as they walked out of the room.

"Bra's here." Chi-Chi said, making Pan's eyes go wide. "Really?" she asked, a smile spreading on her face. Chi-Chi nodded and laughed as the girl lightly bounced up and down in her arms due to her excitement.

A few months after Pan and Goten were born, Bulma had come to Chi-Chi, telling her that she was pregnant. Chi-Chi was happy for her, of course. She had noticed that Trunks would always want to play with the twins, and Bulma had told Chi-Chi that he wanted a younger sibling. He basically had that in Goten and Pan, but both women knew that he wanted one of his own.

Bulma had no problem with it; she loved Trunks and she knew she would love this child. She knew Vegeta didn't have a problem, so here they were. Chi-Chi had gotten a call about eight hours ago that Bulma had went into labor, and recently she had gotten another call telling her that Bulma had given birth to a baby girl named Bra, a name that Bulma chose to go with Trunks.

Chi-Chi, with Pan, walked out into their giant backyard, where Gohan was playing with Goten. The younger boy was shrieking with laughter as Gohan flew around with him in his arms, though not too fast and not too high.

"Go!" Pan giggled, reaching her short arm to the sky towards her brothers. "Another time, sweetheart." Chi-Chi said, kissing her head before calling out, "Gohan!"

Gohan heard his mother's call, and flew towards the girls, landing on the ground with Goten still laughing. "Mommy!" Goten giggled, seeing his mother. At the same time, Pan went, "Gohan!" and reached for her older brother.

Gohan and Chi-Chi swapped twins.

"Did you have fun with Nii-san?" Chi-Chi asked, bringing Goten inside, while Gohan threw his sister up in the air (not too high, though) and caught her, as she laughed.

Both Goten and Gohan were informed of the big news, and before long, the Sons were ready and headed out to the hospital.

**XxX**

"She's so small…" Trunks said from beside his mother, looking down at his baby sister. Like Trunks had said, she was small, but she looked exactly like Bulma. On her head sat short, blue hair, and her eyes, which were open and looking around, were bright and blue colored like her mother's and her brother's.

"She's still a baby." Bulma chuckled, petting the head of her child softly. "Goten and Pan were this small, remember? And so were you."

"But I'm big now. And so are Goten and Pan." Trunks said, and Bulma smiled. "You grew." She replied.

"As will she." Vegeta said, from the corner of the room, where he'd been standing, arms crossed, but watching his small family. Bulma smiled up at him, loving this softer side of Vegeta that she'd seen once Bra came out.

He'd _held_ her. Not only that, but there was a softness in his eyes that Bulma recognized from when Trunks had been born. She saw him as he whispered something to Bra when he thought nobody was paying attention to them, and kiss her forehead. The only reason that he wasn't holding her now was because the Sons were coming and Bulma knew Vegeta didn't want them seeing him like that, even if it was his daughter.

Sure enough, there was a knock on the door, before it opened, and the Sons came into the room.

"Hey!" Bulma beamed at the family. "Just in time. She's awake."

"Veg!" Pan giggled as she and Gohan waved to Vegeta. Vegeta grunted and rolled his eyes, not even bothering to tell the young girl that that _wasn't _his name. Trunks waved to the Sons, immediately accepting Pan into his arms as she was let go from Gohan to hug him.

"Oh, Bulma." Chi-Chi whispered, staring at the baby. "She's beautiful…"

"Thank you." Bulma replied, looking down at the baby in her arms. She noticed Goten, who was still being carried by Chi-Chi, was hugging her tightly and pressing his face against her chest. She rose an eyebrow towards the woman, knowing how excited Goten was to meet Bra, and was confused as to why he was hiding.

Chi-Chi's smile faltered slightly as she pet Goten's head. "Shots." She mouthed quietly, and Bulma's eyebrows rose in realization. She nodded, smiling sadly.

"Isn't she cute?" Trunks asked as he and Pan were sat by Bulma to get a better look at Bra. Pan was currently playing with the baby, Bra's smaller hands playing with Pan's small one. "She is!" Pan agreed, giggling as Bra made a baby noise.

"It's cause she's my sister." Trunks smirked. "She got my cuteness too!" Pan giggled. "Silly Trunks. She looks like Bulma-San, not you." She said, causing Bulma to laugh at Trunks' fake hurt expression.

Gohan tried to get Goten to let go of Chi-Chi, tried to get him to look up and calm down so that he could see the baby, but Goten wasn't listening. Bulma had an idea.

"Guys, move over a bit." She instructed Trunks and Pan to do, which they did, moving so that the space closest to Bra on the bed was free. She motioned for Chi-Chi to set Goten near her, which the woman did, trying her best to set Goten down, but the boy clung to her.

"Sweetheart…" Chi-Chi tried, but Goten shook his head. "Goten." Bulma said. "I have Bra here with me. Do you want to say hi to her?" She asked.

Goten was still for a second before he nodded, slowly turning his head to her. He allowed Chi-Chi to let him down on the bed as he crawled over to peer down at the baby. Bra giggled as Goten came into view.

"Why's she laughing?" Goten asked shyly, looking at Bulma. From beside Pan, Trunks snickered. "She thinks your hair is weird." He answered, and Goten turned to glare at him, sticking his tongue out and saying, "You have _purple _hair!" causing everyone to laugh.

The next hour and a half consisted of everybody taking turns to hold Bra, and had Trunks and Goten arguing about why Bra laughed when she saw Goten, with Pan scolding them every time they got too loud.

"I'm so happy." Chi-Chi sighed contently as she stared at the four children. Bra had just fallen asleep and Trunks was holding her, patting her softly and cradling his arms, shushing Goten every time he got a little too close (which makes no sense, I know.) Pan was at his side, looking over his shoulder and chatting excitedly but quietly at how peaceful the baby's face was. "These kids are going to grow up happy."

Bulma hummed in agreement from beside her, while Gohan lay a hand on his mother's shoulder. Yeah. They would be happy.

**XxX**

"Bye-bye!" Pan waved as the family got ready to go, giving Trunks a hug. She even gave Vegeta one, and the Saiyan prince only grunted in response. She cooed at the baby and waved bye to her, even though she knew Bra couldn't hear it, before saying bye to Bulma.

Goten followed, giving Trunks a fist-bump, not going near Vegeta, though he waved. The family was out not long after, walking through the hospital with Goten holding Pan's hand tightly as they walked through the hospital. Gohan held his other hand reassuringly while Chi-Chi held Pan's other hand, so he wasn't as afraid as before.

"Mama." Pan said, looking up to Chi-Chi, causing the woman to look down to her. "I'm not the youngest anymore, right?" Chi-Chi chuckled. "No, I guess not." She answered gently, while Goten snickered. "You short." He reminded her, and Pan glared at him.

The small family continued toward their home. The twins bickered and Gohan had to break it up before it got bad, but Chi-Chi knew it would never go _that _far. She loved her small family with all her heart.

And she knew they loved her and each other with all of theirs, too.

**. . . **

**These first two chapters, I've noticed, have been very Chi-Chi/Son family centric. Apologies, I don't mean for them to be. I just find it easier to write it this way. **

**Some changes were made, but something I noticed in the original story is that I seemed to forget that in this chapter, Pan and Goten are only one. One year olds don't usually speak in full sentences and I know that any sane person wouldn't allow a one year old to submerge themselves into the water, Saiyan or no. **

**And YES, I KNOW this isn't how one-year olds react and behave and whatnot. Even though I tried being accurate for Trunks, I gave up here. I just wanted these kids to appear as adorable and the only way to do that was to write them as if they were four or five years old. Let's just pretend that saiyans mature at an extremely fast rate and that's why these kids are growing up so fast,, **


	3. Chapter 3

**Trigger warning: Depression/Mentions of characters going through depression (nothing explicit happens, just want to give people a warning.)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z. **

**. . . **

To Gohan, a month used to feel like an eternity.

Cell's defeat was supposed to be a victory. And it was, to the people. To a man named Hercule Satan who everybody, save for the Z fighters, thought defeated Cell. He was considered a hero and was basked with fame and riches.

Gohan didn't like it.

It wasn't because he wanted the fame. That was evident by having connections with _the _Bulma Briefs, whose friendship his family never, _ever_ used for public exposure or gain. He didn't like it because he _knew _that this Hercule wasn't half the man he said he was. Hercule Satan wasn't the man who saved the world. It was his father. His father who had sacrificed himself so that the future that the other Trunks came from wouldn't become theirs.

Gohan had been through a lot.

He'd been kidnapped at the age of four by his deranged uncle, been forced to watch his dad and friends die right in front of him more times than he would like to count.

But _nothing _came close to the ear-splitting shriek his mother had let out when he told her the news. He had to watch his mother's knees give out, had to catch her, had to hold her in his arms, rubbing her back while she sobbed, because the very future that Trunks had described, the future where Chi-Chi would have to lose her husband, came true.

This wasn't the first time Chi-Chi had lost Goku, but that didn't mean every time hurt less than the last. If he was being honest, Gohan was scared for her. The light in his mother's eyes dimmed and was dimming with each day after he'd told her. She was depressed, that much he could tell.

And, if he were being honest, so was he. The guilt continued to eat at him ever since the Cell Games. He blamed himself for his father's sacrifice, always questioned why he couldn't be smarter, why he betrayed everyone's expectations by letting his pride and arrogance get the better of him, _why he didn't finish Cell off when he had the chance._

But he never voiced any of these thoughts to his mother. He _couldn't _do that to her. He had to stay strong for her and fulfill his father's last request.

This went on for a few months. The Son household was so eerily quiet. Chi-Chi spent most of her time doing what she always did while Gohan would busy himself either studying, training, or helping his mother, coaxing some conversation out of her as to not let the silence fill up their small space. They had visited Bulma and Trunks from time to time, but their smiles were forced, and the feeling was just so _wrong._

It felt like torture. Gohan didn't know how much more of it he could take.

That was before his mother found out that she was pregnant.

One morning, Gohan had woken up early, as he was used to doing due to Chi-Chi having come down with terrible morning sickness a few weeks ago. He had walked to their small bathroom, bringing a damp towel, expecting to find his mother hunched over the toilet.

To his surprise, he found her kneeling on the floor, trembling slightly. Her back was towards him, but he noticed that her shaky hands held something in them. Rushing to her side, Gohan fell to his knees next to his mother, opening his mouth to ask her what was wrong, only for his words to die as soon as he caught sight as to what she was holding.

A positive pregnancy test.

Gohan remembered them staying like that for more than a few minutes, possibly even for an hour. It was he who eventually shook his shock away, gently helping his mother up and easing her into their small kitchen, sitting her down on a chair while he called Bulma.

Everything after that was a blur.

After a talk with Bulma and a breakdown from his mother when the brunt of the situation finally hit her, they were able to find peace when Gohan reminded her that this was what Goku had left her with as a way of keeping a piece of him with her. He reminded her that she wasn't alone when it came to this baby, that she had Bulma to back her up and Goku watching over them. But most of all, he reminded her that he, her baby boy, was always going to be there for her.

Some of the light in Chi-Chi's eyes returned after that, and Gohan thought he might cry when she gave him a shaky, yet genuine smile as she hugged him.

Things got better after that. Slowly, but surely, Chi-Chi got better. Her smile reached her eyes and when she mentioned Goku's name, there was no sadness in her words. In turn, Gohan got better as well. He loved seeing his mother get better with everyday that passed and he himself was eager for the day his sibling- no, _siblings_, because there were twins inside his mother's stomach, would arrive.

Eventually, they did.

The day Goten and Pan were born was probably the happiest day of his life. From the moment he saw his mother holding them in her arms to the moment he held them in his, he vowed that he would always be there for them and raise them to be just as good-hearted as their mother and father.

Chi-Chi's hands were full with taking care of the twins. So were Gohan's. He noticed that Goten was very clingy while Pan was very whiny. There were days when Chi-Chi only had the strength to deal with one, so Gohan would take the other. But he never minded. He loved his siblings and every moment he spent with them.

He also noticed that they liked to play with Trunks. These babies enjoyed each other's company and the sight of them playing with each other was just so pure that Gohan thought his heart would burst.

He didn't even notice that basically a year had gone by until Bulma's daughter, Bra, was born. Pan took an instant liking to her, despite only being one. The four of them became nearly inseparable as the years flew by. Gohan remembers the twins' first birthday, the first time they walked, the first time Pan said her first word while Goten tried with all his heart to follow her but just couldn't quite get it. He remembers them being his source of happiness when he was feeling sad, remembers being able to whisper his frustrations to them. He knew that they listened and kind of understood as well because they were able to provide comfort to him by simply grabbing onto his finger and holding it tightly yet, strangely, reassuringly.

There wasn't one bad memory he could think of when he was with the twins. All he could remember was warmth and laughter and he almost knew that it was his father's way of looking out for them.

To Gohan, seven years went by like a blur.

**XxX**

"Gohan." The seventeen-year old's eyes opened slowly at the sound of his name. He let out a groan as he blinked before letting out a yawn.

"Gohan!" Another voice came, this one a bit louder. He felt a tiny hand shake him awake and he groaned again as he groggily forced himself up, rubbing his eyes.

"G'morning kiddos." Gohan mumbled sleepily at his younger siblings, smiling at them as he ruffled their hairs. He, however, just barely made out their forms in his dark, dark room, which was odd because he thought he'd rubbed away most of the sleep from his eyes.

"Uh, Pan? Can you open the window?" He asked, figuring his windows were still shut which was why the sun wasn't getting in. "Already did." The seven-year old chirped.

Gohan blinked. "What time is it?"

The twins shrugged. "Dunno." Goten answered honestly. "But we made sure to wake up extra early so that you'd wake up extra early!" "We heard Mama talking to you about it yesterday." Pan added.

Gohan scratched the side of his head. He was still somewhat groggy, so he wondered why the twins would be up so early just so he-oh. Today was his first day of high school. Chi-Chi had made an early dinner the day before, making sure Gohan was well-fed and ready for bed even before the sun completely set.

The teen smiled widely as his heart warmed at the thought of them agreeing to get up early just so that their older brother would be ready on time. He knew they didn't exactly know what 'high school' was so it was nice of them to connect that it was something important to him.

Without warning, Gohan reached over, bringing the twins in a tight hug. "You guys are the best siblings ever!" He told them earnestly. Goten and Pan shared a look before awkwardly patting their older brother's back. They stayed like this for a few minutes before Goten said, "Gohan. I can't breathe."

**. . . **

**Haha. "Subtle." **

**Heavy Son centric chapters. Sorry, I really do like the Briefs but I like the Sons just a bit better and they're easier to write for me. Also I know its OOC for Gohan and Chi-Chi to be so shaken after Goku's death (I think) but I'm just saying how I would feel if my dad died sacrificing himself to save the world. **

**Also! Yes, Gohan has a bit of a grudge against Mr. Satan. I feel like he doesn't really mind him in the original series cause he was the one who ultimately defeated Cell but here it was Goku. So Hercule isn't taking Gohan's victory for himself, he's taking Goku's.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z or any of the characters being mentioned in this fan fiction. **

**. . . **

Due to Goten and Pan waking him up _way _before the sun even rose, Gohan had a lot of extra time before he actually needed to leave for school. After triple checking all his supplies, making sure he completed all the work they had given prior to the year starting along with all the documents he needed for entrance, Gohan got the idea to fly his siblings around before having to get ready.

"You're going to teach us how to fly?" The twins asked excitedly, though they kept their voices low as to not wake their mother. Their eyes shone, and they were practically shaking because Gohan knew that they had wanted to fly since forever. Trunks already knew how to. He'd made sure to rub it in Goten's face while taking every opportunity to carry Pan or Bra on his back, allowing them to experience the thrill.

Gohan smiled sympathetically, knowing that he'd have to crush their hopes. "Sorry kiddos." He said, ruffling their hairs. "I can't do that without mom's permission. You know how she feels about flying."

Chi-Chi wasn't a big fan of flying. She didn't like it when Gohan learned and she wasn't going to like it when the twins learned either. So, she made Gohan promise that he wouldn't teach them behind her back. She didn't want them surprising her by being on their ceiling or in the air where she couldn't reach them.

"_One day." _Gohan remembers his mother telling him. _"One day they will. But until then… I want them here on the ground with me. Just for a bit longer." _

Goten deflated while Pan let out a disappointed whine. Gohan smiled at them. "Cheer up, guys! I may not be teaching you how to fly on your own, but I'm gonna show you something just as cool. Come on!"

He led his siblings to their backyard, a good distance away from their house. At this point, the sun was only beginning to rise. Gohan stopped at a spot by the large lake, raising his right hand. The twins watched him curiously, wondering what their older brother was planning to do.

Gohan took a deep breath before calling out to the vast field, "FLYING NIMBUS!"

Gohan's loud voice echoed before fading, yet he still stood with his arm raised. There was an awkward silence for a few minutes. Goten was about to ask what that was all about before Pan shushed him.

"I hear something!" She said. Goten frowned slightly and focused before perking up. "I hear it too!" He exclaimed happily. The small buzzing noise the twins heard became louder as a small brown cloud made itself visible, heading straight for the three saiyans. It stopped right in front of Gohan and the teen grinned.

"Nimbus!" The twins watched, amazed, as the small cloud let out a happy sounding hum. Gohan went over to it, patting it. They were surprised to see that his hand didn't just phase through it. "Guys, I want you to meet the Flying Nimbus."

"It's a cloud!" Pan exclaimed. "It is!" Gohan agreed. "But it's a special one. This is what Dad used to fly around when he was younger and couldn't fly by himself. When he was just like you two."

"Wow…" Goten was awestruck. He kept looking from the cloud to Gohan, clearly excited to ride the thing. "So, he can take us for a ride?" "That's the plan!" Gohan said, ruffling Goten's hair before picking him up and setting him on the cloud. As he expected, Goten was able to sit right on it, not falling through. He repeated the action with Pan before floating up, sitting himself behind the twins.

"Alright, Nimbus." Gohan said, once again patting the old cloud. "Let's go!"

**XxX**

The Son siblings spent about an hour flying around on Nimbus. Goten made sure to spend most of it screaming as loud as he could while they were in the air, while Pan reached over the cloud to touch the water and watch the fishes every time Nimbus flew close to a lake. Gohan made sure to watch his siblings so they wouldn't fall, all while feeling happy at how much he was seeing the twins enjoy themselves. Nimbus eventually brought them back to Mt. Pao, knowing that their time together was up.

"Aw!" Goten whined as Gohan helped him off the cloud. "But I wanted to stay there a little longer!" Gohan smiled apologetically at him as he helped Pan down. "Sorry squirt, but that's all the time I have for today."

Pan sniffed once she was off the cloud, and Gohan was worried she was going to cry. Nimbus, sensing her distress, flew closer towards the ground, nuzzling her. Pan didn't hesitate to hug it the best she could. "I'm gonna miss you, Nimbus." She said, before letting him go. It went over to Goten, who also hugged it, mumbling, "Me too."

"Aw, guys." Gohan said, rubbing the back of his neck. "It isn't like you guys aren't going to see it ever again. Nimbus is the one who's gonna take me to school." He knelt down to his siblings' height once Goten had let go of the cloud. "After that, it'll be free to be called on again."

"We can do that?" Pan asked. Gohan nodded. "Of course!" he told her. "You remember how I called him, right?" The twins nodded. "You just do that, and it'll come right over."

Goten clapped his hands together. "Alright!" He cheered, getting giddy at the thought of riding it again. Gohan smiled at him before standing up, petting Nimbus. "Thank you," he said to it, and it hummed. "I'll call on you later, alright?"

Nimbus hummed one last time before heading off. "Bye Nimbus!" the twins called after it, waving. Gohan watched as the cloud went further and further away before it eventually faded out of sight. He looked back at his siblings and grinned when they were back to their happy, chipper selves, talking about what they liked most when riding Nimbus.

"Race you there!" Goten said as they began making their way back to their house.

"You're on!" Pan said.

"Last one there is a stinky egg!" Gohan said, breaking into a jog.

He laughed when he heard the twins yell his name. He didn't even care that they passed him, sprinting, nor did he care that he was the last one to get there, donning the name 'Stinky Egg' for the rest of the morning.

**XxX**

"Do you have everything? Make sure you have the papers I signed. Check your homework over again. Where's your lunch?"

Goten and Pan watched as Chi-Chi fussed over their older brother, straightening his shirt and brushing a stray piece of his hair away from his eyes. Gohan answered her questions patiently, only gently grabbing her wrists and stopping her when it truly was time for him to go.

"Mom," he said, making eye contact, "I've got everything. Don't worry." Chi-Chi stared at him for a second. Then she smiled, pecking him on the cheek before giving him a hug. "Oh, my baby boy!"

"Mom!" Gohan muttered, face flushing when he heard the twins' quiet snickering. It was only high school; he never understood why his mother got so emotional over these things. Chi-Chi let him go after a while. "I'm sorry." She sniffed. "It's just that you've grown up so fast. Your first day of high school, I can't believe it!" She looked as if she were going to hug Gohan again, so the teen, once again, gently grabbed his mother's hands, stopping her before she could.

"I'm not going away forever, Mom." He said. "I'll be back before the end of the day. Besides," he said, looking at the twins who immediately stopped laughing, "you're going to have your hands full of these two to be missing me too much anyway."

Pan immediately tried to turn and leave the room with Goten in tow, but Chi-Chi had already turned to them. Before they knew it, she and her twin were pulled into their mother's bear hug.

"Gohan!" they said at the same time while Chi-Chi exclaimed, "My babies!"

Gohan laughed, giving them a two-finger salute. He glanced at the clock. "I'm off, you guys!" He called out to his family. Chi-Chi had stopped smothering the twins before ushering them outside to watch Gohan take off.

Once again, Gohan had stood at their front yard, raising his right hand. "Nimbus!" He yelled, and the twins watched with excitement as the cloud came flying, stopping in front of Gohan.

"Bye mom! See you, squirts!" Gohan pecked his mother's cheek and ruffled the twins' hairs before climbing onto Nimbus. The twins waved as the cloud once again took off, watching it until it disappeared completely from sight.

"Mama!" Pan had immediately said, turning to Chi-Chi. "Gohan said that after Nimbus takes him to school, we could call on Nimbus to fly!"

"Did he now?" Chi-Chi asked with a smile. She had already known that Gohan took them flying this morning; her children weren't exactly quiet. And it was the least she could do, allow them to fly Nimbus, that is. She herself hadn't ridden the cloud in so many years. She didn't even know if she was able to, anymore. But she loved the Flying Nimbus. She was glad her babies loved it as well.

"Yeah!" The twins exclaimed. Chi-Chi laughed. "Tell you what," she said, squatting so she was the twins' height. "Why don't we eat breakfast first and clean things up a bit. Then for lunch, I'll take you to Capsule Corp. and you call Nimbus over there so that you can show Trunks and Bra. Does that sound okay?"

"Yes!" The twins chorused, before both of them threw themselves onto Chi-Chi, knocking her back slightly. "Thank you, mama!" Pan said while Goten hugged her a bit tighter.

A warm smile spread across Chi-Chi's face and she hugged the twins back. They separated after a while, Goten and Pan already yelling something else about racing, whoever was quickest to finish their chores would be the first one to call Nimbus.

Chi-Chi shook her head with a smile. Her babies really were something else.

**. . . **

**Let me tell you all a secret: I'm actually really excited for this story. I keep a separate folder where I write little scenes (of this story) that I have ideas for and I have so much planned for the Baby Saga/Shadow Dragons Saga. Romantic bonding moments between Trunks/Pan and Goten/Bra and even platonic moments between Pan/Bra and Trunks/Goten. Even sibling moments between Pan/Goten and Bra/Trunks. **

**But I know to get to that, I have to get past the Majin Buu saga, which is a bit harder for me because the Saiyaman arc revolves around Saiyaman, not these little niblings. So, it's a bit hard for me to write them in. But I'll see. I'll try. **

**I'm just itching to write some of the later bits, when the hybrids are teens, though. And I hope you're all excited too! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or anything related to it.**

**. . . **

It was a sunny afternoon. The skies were clear and the air was cool, not too hot but not too cold. Perfect weather for an outing, which was exactly what the four hybrids were enjoying in the large backyard of Capsule Corp. Chi-Chi had offered to take the children there after a trip to the city to go shopping. She and Bulma were currently in the kitchen, Chi-Chi cooking up lunch while Bulma chatted with her and tried to help whenever she could.

This left the children to their own devices. Unfortunately, this also meant this left the children unsupervised, and there was only so much trouble that could happen with four half-saiyan hybrids.

Goten and Trunks decided to spend their time racing to climb the large tree in the Briefs' backyard, who's wood was prickly and pointy and could very well give splinters. Trunks, however, bet Goten one of his toys that he would be able to climb the tree faster than him, and Pan could only facepalm at her twin's obligation to any challenge.

So, here they were, Pan and Bra sat on the grass, previously acting as simple viewers of the match but currently serving as judges to either refute or agree with Goten's claims of Trunks cheating by flying up a little bit whenever Goten wasn't looking.

"I did not!" Trunks said, glaring down at Goten with his arms crossed. He stood a good two or three branches above Goten, both feet planted firmly on it. Though, less obvious, the branch wasn't being weighed down as much as it should have.

"You did!" Goten told him. He looked down at Bra, doing his best to point at Trunks with one arm still supporting his weight on the branch. "Bra, tell your brother to stop cheating!"

"Hey! Stop getting my sister to play judge!"

"Fine, Pan then! You do it!"

Pan responded to Goten by cupping her right hand around her mouth and blowing a raspberry. Bra giggled when Trunks yelled, "HA!" down to Goten, who scowled, sticking his tongue out at his twin. The blunette shifted her gaze up to Trunks, and said, "Nii-san, that goes for you too! Stop cheating!"

They continued, Trunks eventually reaching the top of the tree first, beating Goten by about a minute. Goten, with his red hands covered in tiny splinters, still accused him of cheating but begrudgingly accepted Trunks' victory, however refused to climb all the way back down.

Trunks only shrugged. "Okay." He said. And that was all the warning he gave before he grabbed the back of Goten's shirt and jumped, sending the two of them falling. Pan and Bra shrieked when their brothers began hurling towards them, scrambling to get out of the way. Goten was yelling, even when Trunks caught the two of them before they could hit the ground, hovering just about three feet with the tip of Goten's toe brushing the tip of the grass.

"Goten." Trunks said, when Goten was still yelling, eyes closed with hands clenched tightly into fists. The lavender haired saiyan let go of his shirt and Goten quieted only when his own two feet were touching the ground. He looked at Trunks with wide, scared eyes before he promptly fainted, falling back into the grass.

**XxX**

"So how is Gohan enjoying high school?" Bra asked Pan, later on as they were seated in Bra's room. Bra was currently brushing out Pan's hair, which was just a little past her shoulder. After yelling at Trunks for giving them a scare, the two girls had retired back into the house. Bra had convinced Pan to let her practice braiding her hair, which she complained she couldn't do with Bulma because her hair was too short.

Pan shrugged. "He's enjoying it enough, I guess. He gets really busy sometimes and doesn't have any time to play with me and Goten and he has to wake up really early for school. Plus he carries this watch Bulma-San gave him and when he presses the button it puts him on in this weird outfit." Pan made a face when she pictured her brother in the green tunic, red cape, and helmet. "He says his name is Saiyaman when he puts it on."

"I heard about that." Bra hummed, "Mommy says its cause there's a lot of bad guys in Satan City." Pan rose her eyebrow. "So… What, does that mean Go-nii's a superhero?"

Bra shrugged this time, her eyes focused on Pan's hair and her fingers. "I guess so. Isn't that cool? Trunks has some comics with some superheroes." Her eyes brightened when she added, "They always end up getting really pretty girlfriends! Does Gohan have a girlfriend?" Bra asked.

"Not that I know of." Pan answered, though she smirked when she said, "Though- I have heard him talking about a girl. I think her name's… Violet? No." Pan snapped her fingers when the name came to her. "Videl, that's her name."

"Is she pretty?"

"I guess so. Otherwise I don't approve of her being my Nii-san's girlfriend."

The two girls giggled. Bra opened her mouth to say something else when the door burst open, the boys piling into the room. Goten sat down near Bra's TV while Trunks plopped down onto his sister's bed.

"Hey!" Bra snapped, letting go of Pan's hair. "Why are you two in here? No boys allowed!"

"We're bored." The boys answered at once. Pan rolled her eyes while Bra huffed and went back to her work. "Go be bored somewhere else, Nii-san."

"Don't want to." Was Trunks' only reply.

Bra scowled at him while Pan flicked one of Bra's hair-ties at her twin. She missed, and Goten picked it up and flicked it back at her. It hit Pan's forehead and she let out a yelp as Goten grinned. Pan grabbed the tie, preparing to fire it again, but was stopped by Bra, who grabbed it. "Stop," she scolded. "I need this."

Goten snickered. "So, what were you guys talking about?" he asked. "I heard something about Gohan being a superhero."

Bra nodded. "Gohan's a superhero that saves Satan City from bad guys." Bra told him. She then added, "Who has a pretty girlfriend that kisses him every time he saves _her_ from the bad guys."

"What? Who?" Goten asked, eyes wide. "Videl." Pan told him. "Remember? Nii-San was talking about her the other day."

"Oh." Goten said, frowning. "I didn't know that. Nii-San didn't seem to like her very much." He glanced up at the girls. "But how come she kisses him?"

"Because she's his girlfriend." Bra said.

"So?" Goten asked. "You're my girlfriend and I don't kiss you."

At that, both Trunks and Pan snorted, Pan choking out a laugh while Trunks sat up from his spot on Bra's bed. "No, dummy." He said to Goten. "Bra's your friend that's a girl. A girlfriend is someone who kisses you and stuff. If you have a girlfriend then it means you have to marry her." Trunks made a face. "Or something icky like that."

"It's not icky!" Bra exclaimed. "I actually think its sweet." Trunks snorted again. "Yeah, sure." He said, laying back down.

Bra made a face at her brother while Goten nodded in understanding. "Oh.. I get it." He said, looking at Pan. "So, does this mean Videl is gonna be our new sister?" he asked her.

Pan only shrugged.

**XxX**

It was afternoon when the Sons finally decided to go home. They bid their farewells to the Briefs and headed out towards Mt. Pao. While walking, Goten, who was holding Chi-Chi's hand, looked up at his mother and said, "Hey, Mom?"

"Yes?"

"Do you know Videl?" he asked, and Pan looked at him. Chi-Chi rose an eyebrow towards him. "I do." She said. "She's your Nii-San's classmate. She goes to school with him."

"And is she also his girlfriend?"

The twins watched as Chi-Chi's eyebrows rose, surprised by the question. Her lips then curled into a small smile as she chuckled. "I don't know." She said honestly. "You'll have to ask him that."

"Oh." Goten looked at the floor. Pan asked, "Will he be home when we get there?"

"He should be." Chi-Chi answered. She smiled down at Pan. "But we better hurry. I think Gohan-nii has a surprise for the two of you."

The twins perked up at the mention of a surprise. "Really?" Goten said while Pan asked, "What is it?"

Chi-Chi only smiled. "You'll have to ask him that too."

**XxX**

When they got home, just a little while later, Gohan was already there, as Chi-Chi had said. He greeted his mother, and then said, "Hey squirts," ruffling Goten and Pan's hairs. "I've got something to tell you."

Pan rose an eyebrow while Goten's eyes brightened in anticipation.

"Tomorrow I'm going to have a friend over." Gohan told them. "Her name's Videl." The twins' eyes widened as they looked at each other. Before they could open their mouths to say anything, Gohan added, "I'm going to teach all of you guys how to fly."

**. . . **

**Filler, filler, filler. **

**But hey, at least we're getting a bit closer to the main story-line. **

**Hey though, can I just talk about how fun it is to write out the four saiyan hybrids? I love these four kiddos a lot, as you can tell. Lol. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or anything related to it.**

**. . . **

The next day couldn't come fast enough for the twins. They went to sleep that night fairly early, when the sun had just set. They woke up early the following morning, waking Gohan before the sun had risen, as they had on his first day of high school. They had seen him out, basically _pushed _him out of the house, telling him to leave and come back home as soon as he was let out. Gohan only laughed and promised them such.

Throughout the day, Goten and Pan eagerly helped Chi-Chi out with the chores, far too excited to focus on anything else. They managed to complete everything in the morning, even helping their mother cook something (Pan, mostly) for lunch. It was only until after lunch, where they were free to do as they pleased, that the twins' excitement turned into impatient, eager anticipation.

Chi-Chi had finished putting away the last of the dishes, walking into their small living room area. She chuckled when she found both twins lying on the couch, Pan right side up with her head on the couch cushion and Goten upside down with his feet on the couch cushion. To her surprise, Pan, not so much as Goten, the twins had managed to fall asleep in that current position.

She shook her head and fixed them, allowing them to rest while waiting for their older brother.

Three hours passed before the twins awoke, (at the same time, mind you) and they were almost scared that they had slept through the whole day and then night and that Gohan had come home with Videl and found them sleeping and decided to teach only her instead of them. Chi-Chi assured them that it wasn't the case, which was greatly helped when Gohan arrived at the door just twenty minutes later.

"Alright!" Gohan exclaimed, once the twins were calmed. They currently stood in their backyard, a bit away from their house, next to a small tree that sat next to the lake. "Are you guys ready to fly?"

"Yeah!" they exclaimed at once. Pan then paused, looked around, then looked back at Gohan. "Uh, where's Videl?" she asked him.

"Oh! Uh, she's… Coming." Gohan said. He was rubbing the back of his neck, and the twins shared a look. "But I'm not sure what time she said she'd be here, so if you guys want, we can-"

Suddenly, the wind around the siblings began to pick up. Goten let out a shocked noise of discomfort when Pan's untied hair whipped against his face. All three saiyan hybrids looked up to see a large helicopter with the face of the man on the side. A rope ladder dropped down soon after, followed by a girl. She was Gohan's age, and she had jet black hair, like him, tied into two low pig-tails. Her skin was a pretty pale and her eyes were a crystal blue.

Videl.

Videl dropped down from the ladder, next to Gohan. She yelled something up to the pilot poking his head out to look at her and gave him a thumbs up, to which he replied with a thumbs up back towards her. Soon enough, the helicopter flew away, and the winds left, leaving the three Son siblings and Videl.

Videl gave a little look at the area surrounding her, stopping at the house and saying, "So you actually _do _live near the mountains." She gave Gohan a little nod, crossing her arms. "Not bad, Son." She told him. That was when she seemed to notice the two seven-year olds in front of her.

"Oh." She said, inching back just a bit. Gohan smiled, first to his brother and sister and then to Videl. "Videl," he said, laying a hand on her shoulder, "these are my siblings, Goten and Pan. Squirts, this is Videl. She's a friend of mine."

Goten managed a shy smile while Pan only stared, seemingly studying the girl in front of her. Videl's lips curled into a small smile as she said, "Nice to meet you," to the two of them.

Before Goten could open his mouth, Pan looked back towards her oldest brother. "I like her," was all she said. And both Gohan's and Videl's cheeks flushed pink.

**XxX**

"Okay." Gohan said after a while. Before they flew, Gohan had coached them a bit on some stretches, then some breathing techniques. After a while, it seemed like he was stalling, and Videl irritably asked him to proceed before it got too late.

"It's finally time for our first flight." He continued. He had lined the three of them in a line, Pan between Goten and Videl. "Alright. Remember what I said. All you need to do is focus your energy to your feet." He then added, "And please be careful."

After he gave them the go, all three of them began doing different things at once. Goten began jumping up and down as high as he could. Pan lifted herself onto her toes, straining herself in that position for a few seconds before she fell back and then started over again. Videl stood where she was, her gaze set towards the ground as she tried to concentrate.

Gohan laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "No, guys." He said, kneeling in front of his siblings. To Goten, he said, "Flying and hopping are two different things." He turned to Pan, "And you don't need to be on your toes, just relax."

He stood up, but not before reminding the twins, "Use your energy."

"Oh." The twins said at once. When Gohan stepped back, both twins turned their gaze to the ground, briefly shutting their eyes. Videl turned to them as a slight breeze began to pick up. A couple seconds of pure concentration passed before, finally, Goten's feet left the ground. Pan followed not long after, and it was only a matter of seconds before they were a good foot above.

Gohan let out a laugh as the twins opened their eyes, Pan yelping when she saw herself not touching anything. She instinctively grabbed Goten's arm, who let out a laugh of pure joy. "Alright!" Gohan cheered, as Videl stared at them. "You guys did it!"

Pan let go of Goten's arm as she focused on steadying herself while Goten wobbled forwards, looking like he was swimming in mid-air. Gohan followed him with a smile, warning, "Not too high, Goten!"

Goten waved him off, assuring him he was fine before he fell, slamming back into the ground. Gohan rushed over to help him while Pan laughed, still in the air.

Videl watched the three siblings, still unable to get her feet off the ground. She frowned, shutting her eyes and concentrating. When a few seconds passed, and her feet still hadn't left, her frown deepened, then turned into a scowl. Her eyes flew open.

"Its not working." She growled quietly. Pan turned to her, as did Gohan. Videl looked back up at him, looking frustrated. "I don't- Its not…"

"Hey." Gohan left Goten, making his way to her. "Its alright." He assured. "No need to fret, you'll get it eventually, I'm sure."

Videl opened her mouth to say something else when Chi-Chi's voice called out to them, "Hey!" The three Son siblings and Videl looked over to her, where she had prepared the small table near the house. "I thought you four might be hungry!"

At the mention of food, Goten happily got to his feet and made his way to the table. Pan followed him, slowly, still learning to keep her balance. Gohan shot Videl a reassuring smile, saying, "Let's go grab a bite to eat first. Maybe you're just hungry. I know I can't focus when I'm hungry." to which she frowned, but allowed him to lead her to Chi-Chi.

After a brief introduction, the five were seated around the table, bowls of food in front of them. Goten and Gohan and Pan dug into their food, the youngest sibling going at a slower pace. Chi-Chi took a few slow bites, and Videl eagerly ate, her eyes widening.

"Ms. Son, did you make this yourself?" she asked as she chewed. Her face flushed a bit as she swallowed. Chi-Chi didn't seem to mind, answering, "I did."

"It's amazing." Videl said genuinely. "I've never had food as good as this."

"Oh?" Chi-Chi asked. "But I thought you lived in a mansion." "I do." Videl said. "But none of the cooks make any food this good. I should tell my dad to fire them and just hire you, which he would do if he tasted this."

At the mention of Mr. Satan, Gohan frowned but allowed himself to be preoccupied by his food as he continued to eat. Chi-Chi smiled at her. "Thank you, Videl." She said.

Pan swallowed a bite of food and then asked, "So how long have you been Gohan-nii's girlfriend?"

Videl stopped, chopsticks still in her mouth as her eyes widened. Gohan nearly choked on his rice at the question, as he looked up at his sister and said, "_What_?"

Pan repeated to Videl, "How long have you been Gohan-nii's girlfriend?"

Videl's cheek turned a light shade of pink at the second time, as did Gohan's as he shook his head. "What? No, she's not my girlfriend. She's just a friend who I'm teaching how to fly." He said, and Videl mumbled a tiny, "yeah." To distract himself, Gohan put more rice into his mouth.

It was at this moment Chi-Chi decided to add, "And you're planning to marry her?"

At this, Gohan promptly spit all the food in his mouth out in surprise. Fortunately for the girls, none of it landed on them. Unfortunately for Goten, it all landed on him. The youngest Son boy didn't seem to mind, though, as he had a smile on his face when he asked, "Does this mean Videl is going to be our new sister?"

Gohan flailed his arms. "I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU GUYS ARE TALKING ABOUT!"

**. . . **

**Call back to that preview I posted… 4-5 years ago. Ugh,, as much as I love them, I just wanna get past the Majin Buu arc but its taking longer than I expected. **


	7. Chapter 7

It had been about a week since Videl came over for flying lessons, and a week since Goten and Pan had properly learned how to fly. The twins were purely ecstatic, phoning Trunks and Bra the day after they'd learned. Chi-Chi admitted that it was a bit of a pain in the neck that her twins could now be menaces in the air, but she'd softened at the looks of pure joy they had on their faces while they were high up.

It took Videl a little bit longer to learn, but the twins were present in hers and Gohan's sessions, despite the girl's initial embarrassment; two little kids could get something that was (by Gohan's standards) easy to do? She was the daughter of the world champ! She should've been able to have it down like that!

But thankfully, Goten and Pan weren't the least bit condescending. They encouraged the girl and offered her pointers. It was even Goten who had suggested that Videl maybe didn't know how to find her energy yet, which prompted Gohan to show Videl how to channel her Ki and then focus it to her feet. Miraculously, after weeks of getting nothing, Videl was able to get something, a little more than an inch off the ground as she focused her energy.

In the coming lessons, Videl was becoming better and better, while at the same time becoming closer to the Son twins, and, though she didn't admit it, Gohan (even when she cut her hair, accidentally taking his advice the wrong way). They were all starting to grow tremendously on her. Finally, the day came where she could finally bring herself up more than a few inches, a few feet, even.

She'd laughed happily while Goten and Pan cheered, joining her in the air and pulling her along as she tried to maintain her balance. Gohan watched happily, satisfied that Videl was finally able to learn. He also loved that his siblings took such a huge liking to her, and her to them. And he'd never admit out loud, but, despite her being the daughter of Mr. Satan, he had started to take a bit of a liking to her, too.

On one of the days in training, Videl had brought up the tournament to the twins, something Gohan had forgotten to tell them about with all the flying stuff preoccupying his mind.

"There's a kid division." Videl explained to the twins. "It would be really cool to see you guys enter."

"Wow, really?" Goten exclaimed happily. "Maybe we'll be able to fight really big strong kids!" Pan chimed, already throwing punches towards an imaginary opponent. That got Videl to laugh.

**XxX**

The next day was the weekend. Gohan had decided to pay a visit to Capsule Corp because of him needing to find an alternative to his Saiyaman outfit due to helmets and armor not being allowed. Pan and Goten weren't able to come due to them falling a bit behind on their lessons, less than Chi-Chi liked due to flying, so she told them to stay home. While they were there, Gohan was able to say hi to Trunks and Bra, while Bulma was able to find him a new look, the eldest hybrid now sporting a white bandana with shades.

"Wow, Gohan!" Bra gushed at the teen, still reeling over the superhero stuff, especially with all the stories Pan had been telling her about him and Videl's flying lessons. "You look so cool!" Gohan smiled down at her, ruffling her hair. "Thanks, B-Chan!" he said.

Trunks snorted, crossing his arms. "He looks like a dork." He murmured quietly, prompting Bra to yell, "He does not!" at her brother, causing the two of them to start arguing.

Bulma rolled her eyes at her children while Gohan turned to Vegeta. "So Vegeta," he said, addressing the prince, "About the tournament. Are you entering?"

The saiyan frowned. "If you insist on joining, then so shall I. Beating you will be the closest thing to beating Kakarot." He said. Gohan laughed nervously at that, rubbing the back of his neck. At the mention of his father entering, Trunks stopped arguing with Bra and said, awestruck, "Wow, both you and Gohan are entering? That's so cool!"

_I think I'll enter too! _

A disembodied voice suddenly caused everybody in the room to jump, Bra grabbing onto her mother and hiding behind her leg.

_Gohan! _The voice said again, and all eyes went to him.

"Dad?" The teen called out, removing his shades and looking up at the sky with wide eyes. "Dad, is that you?" Bulma's eyes were wide as well as she murmured, "Goku?" Even Vegeta uncrossed his arms, looking up towards the sky in shock.

"Its you!" Gohan cried happily, "Dad, it's really you!"

_Hi son._ Goku said, and the adults and teen could imagine him smiling as he spoke. _Its great to hear your voice again. _

"Dad!" Gohan said, and the Briefs siblings had to do a double take; Gohan sounded so happy. It was unlike they'd ever seen him before. "This is unbelievable! You're here!"

Trunks glanced at Bra, who looked back equally as confused. "Who is that?" He mouthed to her, and his sister replied with a shrug before they both looked back towards Gohan.

_Trunks, _the disembodied voice said, causing the hybrid to jump. _You haven't been telling Gohan the truth about his costume, have you?_ He asked, with a bit of amusement. Trunks stared wide eyed, effectively getting a bit spooked. _And hello to you too, little miss! _The voice added, addressing Bra causing the girl to grab Bulma tighter. _We haven't yet met! I'm Goku, and you look like a mini Bulma!_

"I'm Bra." The girl murmured, still a bit unsure of who she was speaking to. "She's my mom." Bra said. Bulma laughed fondly and rubbed her daughter's head. Goku, from above, smiled at the mention of Bulma's second child. _Well, its very nice to meet you, Bra!_

"This is great!" Gohan said, shaking his head before beaming back up towards the sky. "Dad, are you really coming back to compete in the World Championship?"

_Yeah!_ Goku exclaimed. _I'm allowed to come back for one day. Baba checked it out for me! It appears I have a little credit. _He chuckled. _I'm excited! I can't wait to see everyone! Tell your mom that I'm coming back for a whole day!_

Gohan laughed happily, pumping both his fists into the air. Bulma let out a happy sigh, and Bra, seeing the teen's excitement, couldn't help but laugh as well. Trunks, on the other hand, looked at Gohan strangely. "He's flipped, Dad." He said to his father.

"No, son." Vegeta said, keeping his gaze straightforward. "His father is coming back." Trunks was surprised to find that a smirk had formed on his father's lips. Vegeta addressed Goku, "Even I'm excited, Kakarot, that I'll have another chance to defeat you."

The voice hummed. _We'll see. _Goku said. _I guess anything's possible. Miracles do happen._

Bulma snorted and covered her smile with her hand while Trunks and Bra's jaws dropped. Nobody spoke to their father like that; he would have punched that person before he could even finish his sentence. However, to further their shock, Vegeta still smirked.

"Miracles, huh?" The prince chuckled. "Oh, I can't wait."

Gohan laughed at seeing even Vegeta excited for his father's return. "This is great." Bulma said, smiling. "Gohan," she said, causing Gohan to turn to her. "After telling your mother, you should go to Master Roshii's! Krillin's gonna flip when he hears!"

"Right!" Gohan nodded. "Definitely!"

Bra looked up at her mother, confused. "Who's he, Mom?" She asked. "An old friend, B-Chan." Gohan said. He looked towards her father. "Oh, hey Vegeta. If you're going to compete, you should wear a disguise! Maybe something like mine!"

Vegeta recoiled, disgusted. "Absolutely not!" He snarled. "I wouldn't be caught dead in that thing!"

But it was already too late. At the mention of Vegeta wearing a costume, Bra brightened and said, "Yeah Daddy! You'll be a superhero! And I'll design your costume!"

Everybody laughed.

**XxX**

Chi-Chi was _ecstatic. _

"Are you sure, Gohan?" she asked, so hopefully, almost desperately. "Was it really him? Is he really coming back?"

Gohan gave his mother a gentle smile. "Yeah, mom." He said. "It was really him!"

Chi-Chi let out an elated, joyful laugh before throwing herself onto her son, hugging him. Gohan laughed as well, spinning his mother around. When she was let down, Chi-Chi turned to the twins, happily. "Pan, Goten!" She exclaimed. "You're going to get to see your father!"

"Papa?" Pan wondered, with her eyes wide. She and Goten had only heard stories about him. The most prominent one was how he had single-handedly saved the world from a monster named Cell, but that was how he had died and why he wasn't there with them.

Chi-Chi happily picked Pan up and kissed her temple. "Yes, Papa!" the woman cried happily. Goten, seemingly getting fueled by his mother's excitement was bouncing up and down. "Wow, this is great mom!" He said and Chi-Chi beamed at him, placing Pan down and gently kissing his forehead as well. "It is sweetheart." She said. "And because he's coming back, I think you should enter the children's tournament!"

Goten's eyes grew wide and his mouth stretched into an even bigger smile. "Really?" He asked. Chi-Chi nodded. "Really." She said. Goten threw himself at his mother, hugging her. "Oh, thank you, thank you!" he said.

Gohan and Pan smiled, the latter clapping for her twin. She had decided to sit this tournament out to keep Bra, who didn't want to join, company. "Alright, Goten!" Gohan cheered.

"Gohan!" Goten said, bouncing on the soles of his feet. "Can we go train?"

Gohan expectedly looked at Chi-Chi, who nodded. Both Son boys grinned and headed out, Pan running after them with a, "Wait for me!"

**XxX**

Before they got into any hand-to-hand combat, Gohan had instructed his siblings practice their aim by trying to hit him with a stone, and he would practice his reflexes by dodging. "But Goten won't be shooting any kids with an energy beam at the tournament." Pan said, confused. Gohan shrugged. "It doesn't hurt to practice." The eldest Son said. "Think of it as a warm-up!"

Goten, who had already collected a handful of stones, shrugged. "Whatever you say, Nii-san!" He said, and that was all the warning Goten gave before grabbing the stones and chucking them at Gohan with terrifying speed and precision for a seven-year-old. The teen yelped, barely able to dodge the stones thrown by his brother. Pan joined in afterwards, to which Gohan nearly got whacked on the head.

"Wow!" Gohan said, a stone whizzing past his ear. "You guys are much better than I expected!" In the brief moment the twins had to gather more stones, there was a sudden energy burst from Gohan and his hair flashed to gold.

"Nii-san!" Pan exclaimed, crossing her arms. "That's cheating!"

Gohan grinned at her and said, "Think of it as a compliment! Its amazing I have to go super to avoid getting hit by you two. You're really good!" Pan shook her head, but nevertheless, she and Goten continued chucking the rocks at their brother.

A few minutes in, Goten stopped suddenly, stepping back. Pan practiced another throw towards Gohan, who dodged with ease, but then fell back as well when she saw her twin. Gohan noticed as well and asked, "Goten? You okay? What's up?"

"Well," Goten said, looking straight at Gohan, "since Mom's not here, is it okay if I be like you now?" he asked.

Gohan cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean 'like me'?" He asked. Pan spoke up, "You know, the golden hair and the super strength." She said, gesturing to Gohan. Goten added, "I wanna be a super saiyan now."

Gohan blinked at his siblings before he let out a laugh, light and airy and not at all condescending. He smiled at Goten. "Maybe when you're a little older," he said. "It takes years of training to become a super saiyan."

The twins glanced at each other as Gohan continued, "I was twice your guys' age before I was strong enough for Dad to teach me how to transform." He adopted a somewhat cocky tone as he added, "Of course, I _was _the youngest super saiyan ever. You might need more time."

He looked back at Goten, smiling, but it was soon dropped as a look of shock replaced it. Gohan's jaw dropped as Goten's hair easily flashed from black to golden, his eyes from onyx to teal. He was relaxed, besides his eyebrows which were furrowed downward in concentration, telling Gohan that this wasn't the first time this had happened.

"G-Goten!" Gohan exclaimed. "You're a super saiyan!" His lips curved into a smile of disbelief as he said, "Oh my gosh, this is unbelievable!"

The golden aura surrounding Goten died down seconds later, leaving the youngest Son boy in the same state as his older brother. Pan was laughing at her oldest brother's face as he said, "Incredible! Wh… When in the world did this happen, Goten?"

"Uhh," Goten said, smiling up at Gohan, "I don't really remember."

Gohan simply shook his head, a bright smile still on his face. "This is amazing Goten, wow." He glanced at Pan. "Don't tell me you're a super saiyan too, Pan-Chan." He said, a tad weary.

Pan simply shrugged. "I don't even know if I can turn into a super saiyan." She said. "I don't really want my hair to go all," she gestured to her two brothers, at their spiked up golden hair. Goten giggled at the thought of his twin with the hairstyle, "like you guys." Pan finished.

Gohan smiled, somewhat relieved his sister was okay. Maybe it was the fact that they were young and didn't quite understand the power of the legendary super saiyan, or maybe the hairstyle really did bother her, but Gohan knew Pan could be stubborn at times, and, though she was strong, claimed herself stronger than she actually was.

"Well," Gohan continued, as his initial shock finally began to wear off, "I guess we'll just have to see."

He and Goten powered down moments later, when Chi-Chi had called them back for supper. As they walked back, Gohan couldn't help but huff out a laugh at how natural Goten was, switching from super saiyan back to normal and said, "I still can't believe this. Only seven years old and you're already a super saiyan!"

Goten smiled up at him, somewhat relishing in his brother's praise, though he didn't exactly understand what the big deal was. From next to him, Pan giggled. "If you think Goten's good at it, you should see Trunks. He goes super like its nothing!" she said.

"Does he now?" Gohan hummed, not quite registering what his sister exactly said. Pan nodded, and the twins went ahead of him as they neared their house, already switching topics to the tournament. It was only when they reached the door when Gohan paused and exclaimed, "Trunks is a super saiyan too?!"

**XxX**

At Capsule Corp, a certain lavender haired saiyan hybrid was training inside the Gravity Room with his father. Trunks took a deep breath as he struggled to lift his foot up and then put it down, straining while Vegeta, in his super saiyan form, threw punches at imaginary opponents like it was nothing.

Vegeta glanced over at his son, huffing as he said, "Perhaps you should rest, son. One hundred- and fifty-times gravity is a man's training level." He threw a punch before taking a deep breath. "You're clearly still a child."

Trunks didn't stop. His father's words didn't bother him, as he was already used to it. He lifted one foot up and brought it down before he said, "Pan called last night. She said Goten's going to be in the tournament." He struggled to speak and move. "Now I want to be in it too."

Vegeta scoffed, not admitting that he was somewhat proud of his son's resolve. He looked at him and asked, "So, what are you going to do about it?"

Trunks stopped where he was, panting. He took a minute to catch his breath before he straightened up, directing his gaze to the floor. "Guess I'll go… Super."

Vegeta froze. A second after Trunks had said the words, the eight-year-old let out a yell as a familiar golden aura erupted from around him. His hair flashed to golden and his eyes to teal, but his posture was somewhat relaxed, and he wasn't as concentrated as he ought to be.

Vegeta turned to his son, eyes wide and full of shock as Trunks let out an elated laugh, jumping up and down like the gravity was nothing. The older saiyan continued to stare as his son began running laps around him, before doing flips and cartwheels, all with a terrifying ease for an eight-year-old in extreme gravity.

"Did I miss something?" Vegeta wondered to himself, "Since when was it that the transformation to the legendary warrior of the Saiyan race was reduced to a child's plaything?!" The Saiyan prince felt conflicted; on one hand, there was an immeasurable amount of pride that his son, his _eight-year-old_ son had already reached the level and power of the super saiyan. On the other, Trunks _was_ using it as a plaything. It was almost an insult to Vegeta's struggle, how he had to work so, _so_ hard to reach this point of power while his son used it as if it were nothing.

Scowling, Vegeta said, "Come here, son." And Trunks stopped immediately, right in front of his father. Vegeta continued, "Can the youngest children of Kakarot also turn into super saiyans?"

"Well, Pan can't yet." Trunks explained, "But uh, Goten… Yeah. He can turn super too!"

Vegeta scoffed to himself, "Yes, naturally, it's a super saiyan bargain sale." He said sarcastically. He paused for about a second and asked, "And what about your sister?"

"Bra?" Trunks asked, almost dubious, "No way! She doesn't even like going outside when it rains sometimes!" The lavender haired hybrid chuckled at the thought of his sister being a super saiyan.

"I see." Vegeta muttered. He stared down at the ground for a moment before looking back up at his son. "Try to hit me." He ordered.

Trunks, still smiling, blinked at his father. "Uh, what?" he asked. "Why would I do that, Dad? You know I'm not strong enough."

"You want to play like that?" Vegeta asked, "Fine; lets deal. If you can land one punch on my face, I'll take you and Bra to the park for one hour."

Trunks immediately perked. "Wow Dad, you mean it?" he asked, eyes narrowing in determination. Clenching his hands into fists, he said, "Okay!" before jumping back a few feet and allowing his power to surge through him with a burst of his golden aura.

Vegeta smirked at his son's spirit. "Let's see what you can do." He muttered while Trunks said, "Here it comes!" That was all the warning his son gave before basically throwing himself onto his father, offering him a barrage of punches. Vegeta, sort of caught off guard, dodged them but was unable to dodge a particular fist to his right cheek. On instinct, the Saiyan prince grunted and curled his hand to a fist, punching his son straight on the nose.

Trunks cried out in pain, going down immediately. Vegeta gasped and his eyes widened in brief horror when he'd realized what he had done.

The hybrid sat up a few seconds later, trembling as he held his red face. Tears gathered at the corner of his eyes, but he didn't let them fall. Though his voice was a bit shaky when he said, "You didn't say you'd hit back, Dad."

Vegeta, not allowing himself to admit that he felt guilty for what he'd done retorted, "Well I didn't say I wouldn't hit back, now did I, Trunks?"

"Well, no," Trunks sniffed, barely able now to contain his tears, "but-"

Vegeta cut him off. "Dry your tears and get your sister. We're going to the park now." Trunks immediately smiled, forgetting the pain he was in as he moved to stand. Before he could go, however, Vegeta said, "But before we go, you must tell me who is stronger; you, or Kakarot's boy?"

Trunks smiled and eagerly said, "I'm a little bit stronger than Goten cause he's younger and he and Pan just learned to fly!"

Vegeta scowled as Trunks happily flew out of the Gravity Room, calling for Bra. "Just a little bit, eh?" The prince said to himself. "Well, we'll have to do something about that."

**. . . **

**Eyyy finally getting into the main storyline! Kinda,,**

**I have nearly everything written for the Baby/Shadow Dragons saga, haha. Its just really hard to write for this part cause I haven't watched DBZ/DBGT (I don't watch Super) in YEARS and I cant find the episodes so the most I'm going off of are little clips I can find on YouTube and the DBZ Wikipedia. **

**With that mentioned, since I don't watch Super, this story will follow DBZ-DBGT storyline, with the main conflict ending after GT, even if it was announced not canon. This IS fanfiction after all,, **

**So yeah. Until the next chapter. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ**

**. . . **

Weeks passed and it was finally time for the tournament. Gohan had went around telling most of their friends, Z-fighters whom he hadn't seen in years, about it, also letting them know about his father's return, which they were all excited about. To get to the island where the tournament was being hosted, Bulma offered to fly everybody on her small shuttle.

"I've ridden galactic slugs faster than this vehicle!" Vegeta grunted, annoyed. The saiyan prince currently sat in the passenger seat of the aircraft, glaring out the window. "Oh, hush!" Bulma huffed towards her husband before turning her head back towards everybody else. "So, is Goku really going to show up?"

"He'll be there." Gohan assured. "I know it." From beside him, Master Roshii laughed. "When has Goku ever let us down before? Of course, he'll be there!"

Gohan smiled before turning to Krillin, who was next to him. "So Krillin, I bet he'll barely recognize you with your new goofy hairdo." There was no malice or any indication Gohan meant it in a way to hurt Krillin, so the man replied with, "Hey! Its stylish!"

From where they sat, the hybrids laughed. Ox King chimed in, saying, "I forgot just how funny you guys are together! It cracks me up." The large man said before breaking into more chuckles.

Chi-Chi smiled at her father before turning to Yamcha, who was next to her. "Are you going to be competing too, Yamcha?"

"Me?" The man asked, shaking his head. "No, I'd just embarrass myself. I gave up fighting."

Gohan turned back towards the front of the shuttle. "So, listen, Vegeta." He said, then he turned to the kids, "And the same goes for you too boys, I think we should all agree to not turn into super saiyans during the fight."

"What for?" Vegeta asked, frowning at Gohan. "That's a good idea." Bulma piped up. "If people see you guys transform, there's a good chance they'll recognize you from the broadcast of the Cell Games. And after that, well," Bulma shook her head at the thought. "The journalists would get all your names off the entry form and-" She let out a noise of disdain as she said, "TV cameras would be all over my yard!"

Bra blanched at the mention of unwanted paparazzi while Gohan chuckled. "Yeah. Then you'd all have to go through what I go through in high school. It's a real mess!"

"I don't see the problem." Vegeta said. "When the journalist come, I'll just destroy them!"

"Daddy!" Bra squeaked, eyes widened in horror at the thought of her father doing that to those people. "Vegeta!" Bulma scolded. "Would you behave yourself?"

Realizing he wouldn't win against his wife, Vegeta said, "Fine. Its settled. There will be no super saiyan transformations while in the battles." He smirked as he added, "Of course, I'll still have the advantage."

"That's okay with us, Dad!" Trunks said while Goten chimed, "Yeah!"

"Aw man," Pan whined as she crossed her arms. "If you guys aren't going super, then I could have joined!" She said.

Krillin laughed. "Pan's right! Heck, maybe this way I'll stand a chance!" He chuckled and added, "Y'know, fighting a super saiyan is like trying to fight a steamroller with your hands tied!" He laughed some more when Vegeta yelled, "Quiet down!" And his mouth shut.

Something appeared as they passed by a cloud and Bulma's face brightened as she said, "Look guys! I see it! There's the island where the World Martial Arts Tournament is taking place!"

The hybrids pressed themselves against the windows, awestruck at the beautiful looking island which had a bunch of shuttles like theirs flying towards it.

"Game time." Krillin said, cracking his knuckles. "Hey!" Gohan said, reaching into his bag. "I guess its time to complete my outfit now!" He put on his signature white bandana and shades, causing everybody in the shuttle to stare at him. Bra put her hands together and beamed while Trunks rolled his eyes.

"Hey, Gohan." Krillin asked, "Are you really gonna wear that to fight?"

"Yeah!" the eldest Son exclaimed, finishing tying off his bandana. "This way, they won't recognize me! Do I look cool or what?"

"Yes!" Bra immediately exclaimed while Trunks muttered, "No." Pan and Goten simply laughed at their older brother as everybody else in the ship directed their attention elsewhere, unwilling to answer.

**XxX**

Bulma had landed the ship not too long after, and the small group was currently walking through the trail. Sign-ups weren't open yet but there were already a lot of people present, many of them carrying cameras. It turned out that those cameras weren't here for the tournament, but for the alleged World Champ himself, Mr. Satan, who everybody had flocked to once he stepped out.

Gohan rolled his eyes and continued the other way, the rest of the Z-Fighters searching for Goku.

"I wonder where he is." Krillin said, scratching the side of his head. Master Roshii shook his head. "I don't sense Goku here, but somebody else we know is."

"Huh?" The four hybrids turned to where the old hermit was looking, finding a familiar tall, strong-built alien with green skin and cloth covering the top of his head and the rest of his body standing in the shade. The Son twins' faces broke out into a smile. "Mr. Piccolo!" They exclaimed happily.

"I can't believe he showed up." Gohan said, beaming as he got a look at his old mentor. The eldest Son took more steps forward. "Hello Piccolo." He said, stopping in front of the Namekian. "I don't suppose you've seen my father yet, have you?"

"Not yet." Piccolo answered gruffly. "But he'll be here." There was a brief pause as Piccolo's eyes traveled towards the suit Gohan wore. "That outfit…" He said. "Are you really going to fight in that?"

"Of course!" Gohan replied brightly, seemingly not bothered by the unsaid insult to his choice of wear.

From the side, Chi-Chi was frowning. "Oh," she said, turning her head, trying to see past the crowds, "Where in the world could Goku be?" When she saw nothing, her shoulders dropped and there was noticeable disappointment when she said, "Maybe they really weren't able to bring him back."

Seeing the female Son's noticeable distress, Krillin offered, "I'll go comb the area." "Yeah, me too." Yamcha chimed.

Before they could move, however, a familiar presence and energy filled the area, and everybody turned.

"Hey!" Goku, in all his glory, with his familiar orange and blue Gi, crazy hair, and wide smile, greeted. "I'm back!"

Immediately, a smile broke out on everybody's faces. "Dad!" Gohan cried. "Its you!" From beside him, Piccolo smiled and greeted, "Goku." While Krillin said happily, "Whoa. Pinch me!"

Goku chuckled at everybody's reactions towards him, placing his hands on his hips as he said, "Wow, you guys have changed a lot in the last seven years!" He turned towards his eldest Son, who had come towards him. "Gohan!" he said, a bright smile on his face, "You're giant!"

When he had last left his son, Gohan barely reached his chest. Now, though not exactly as tall as his father, he easily reached his head, and it was to the point where Gohan didn't have to crane his neck to make eye contact with his father.

Gohan laughed happily, removing his shades to wipe a few stray tears that had come to his eyes. He wasn't the only one, however. Krillin was undoubtedly getting emotional over seeing his best friend again, Yamcha was in a bit of disbelief and Bulma sniffed, happily wiping a tear from her eye. Meanwhile Chi-Chi could barely contain her tears.

"Oh, Goku…" she murmured, as Goku turned to her with open arms. "I'm here, Chi-Chi." He said. And that was all the invitation the woman needed as she ran, colliding with him. She hugged him and he wrapped his arms around her, and she felt so, _so_ secure and whole with him. As her tears fell, she breathed in the familiar scent of her husband. When they separated, Goku was still holding her up a bit so they were able to touch their foreheads.

"Oh, sweetheart." Chi-Chi mumbled. "I've missed you." Goku smiled softly, reaching over and wiping a few tears from his wife's cheeks. "I've missed you too, Chi-Chi." He planted a kiss to her temple before letting her down.

The Son couple looked back to find everybody else looking, with large smiles and teary eyes. Goku said, "Well, are you guys just gonna stare at me all day?" And that was the invitation for everybody else, as they yelled, "Goku!" and ran to hug him.

Chi-Chi smiled, moving aside. That was before she noticed the twins hanging back with Vegeta, Trunks, and Bra, still quite unsure what to do or how to introduce themselves to this man that apparently was their father. Still smiling, Chi-Chi beckoned her children over. The twins hesitated.

"Go on, you guys." Bra said, encouraging them. Trunks nodded, and Goten and Pan looked at each other before slowly making their way towards their mother, staying on each side of her and hiding behind her pant leg.

As everybody began separating from Goku, it was then that he noticed a familiar orange and blue Gi being covered by Chi-Chi's skirt. "Hey," Goku said, eyes wide. "I think there's a little me hiding behind your leg!" He then caught sight of Chi-Chi's other side, where he made eye contact with a girl who quickly ducked behind her mother. "And there's a little you behind you too, Chi-Chi!"

"Come on guys, its okay." Chi-Chi said, coaxing her children out from behind her. Slowly but surely, the Sons removed themselves from their mother, shyly introducing themselves. "I'm Goten." The mini-Goku said while the mini-Chi-Chi murmured, "I'm Pan."

Those in front of Goku parted as the saiyan moved forward, towards the children. The twins instinctively stepped back, but Chi-Chi had squatted to their heights and kept her reassuring arms around their shoulders. Goku stopped in front of them, kneeling to their heights as well.

"And I'm Goku." He said, introducing himself. He offered them a kind smile. "Hi!"

The twins stared at him for a bit before the final realization that this man, the same man that they had heard all those stories about, the one who had saved the world countless times, who had raised their brother to be so good-natured and kind-hearted, the man who practically radiated positivity and wholesome goodness, was their father.

"Daddy!" "Papa!" The twins cried at once, rushing forward. Goku accepted them into his open arms, laughing as they basically threw themselves onto him. "Whoa-hoa, little guys!" He said, standing and spinning them around before placing them on each of his shoulders. "You're strong ones, aren't you!"

Goten and Pan laughed, and Goku fondly rested his head against theirs, holding them close to him. Everybody watched the wholehearted scene fondly, before Baba cleared her throat. Goku turned to her. "Listen up, Goku." She said. "Remember that you only have 24 hours. That's all I can do."

Goku nodded, feeling his grip on his children tighten slightly. "Yeah. I know." Baba nodded at him. "I'll see you then." The small witch flew away, leaving Goku with the small group.

"Come on, guys!" Bulma said. "I think sign-ups are open now!" "And we'd better get seats too! I don't wanna be too far from the arena." Chi-Chi added, meaning it was time for their group to split. Goku gently let the twins down before kneeling in front of Pan. "I'll see you after the tournament. Wish us luck, okay?"

Pan nodded happily. "I'll root for all of you!" She pressed a quick kiss to her father's cheek. "Good luck, Papa! You too, Goten! And Nii-san!" Goku smiled at her. "That's my girl." He said, standing up. He took Goten's hand and said, "Come on! Let's give it our best, okay buddy?"

"Alright, Dad!" Goten replied happily, walking off with Goku towards sign-ups.

Bra had rejoined Pan, with the girls grabbing one another's hands. The blunette was waving her father and brother. "Good luck Daddy! And you too Nii-San!" she exclaimed. Pan smiled as she caught Trunks' gaze. "Good luck!" she said.

A small smirk graced Trunks' lips and he gave the girls a thumbs-up before walking off with Vegeta. The two saiyanesses turned and followed their mothers towards their seats.

**XxX**

"Alright! Everybody come forward and take a number and line up in numerical order in front of the punch machine!"

"And if you're a little fella here to participate in the Junior Division, come over and we'll get you squared away!"

Those fighting in the tournament were currently lined up in front of "punch-machines" which were going to be used to determine their strength. Trunks was a little less excited for the tournament now; all of the children signed up for the Junior Division were hilariously weak; he doubted it would take more than a punch to send most of them down. The only person that could theoretically give him a run for his money was Goten, but until they got to fight each other, where was the fun in that? He tried begging anyone that would listen if he could join the adult division, but all the moderators of the tournament simply laughed and pet him on the head, saying he was too young.

At the mention of the Junior Division punch-machine, Krillin snickered and murmured to the kids, "Show 'em whatcha got, little fellas." To which Trunks and Goten frowned.

There weren't as many kids in the Junior Division, so the two boys were able to get numbers 36 and 37. All of the children were pretty weak, getting no higher than 57. One tall, skinny boy in particular, decked out in punching gloves and shorts wound his arm back and gave the machine his all, getting a sound 63 in response. The children went, "Ooooh!" as he smirked and walked away, satisfied with his score.

Trunks scoffed at his false bravado. "I hope I get to fight him, just to wipe that stupid grin off his face." He murmured to Goten, who giggled at the thought.

Finally, it came to Goten, who was number 36. Before he went over, Trunks placed a hand on his shoulder. "Remember to hold back." He said lowly, knowing full well a full-on punch from either him or Goten could easily send the punch machine flying. Goten nodded and rushed forward.

He looked tiny compared to the large contraption, but Goten simply smiled at it and gave the thing a punch; a little more than a tap but he didn't wind his arm backward. That alone was enough to make the machine creak back, and a whopping 98 appeared on the screen.

Immediately chatter started up among the children and everybody stared at Goten wide-eyed as he walked off with a large smile on his face. Trunks shook his head and walked up to the punch machine, giving it no more than a tap. A resounding 101 lit up the screen and the glasses of one of the moderators fell off as their jaws dropped. Trunks huffed and walked off, following Goten.

They were able to finish getting evaluated just in time to see Vegeta punch the machine straight back, sending it crashing into the wall. All of the adults stared, eyes wide with their jaws dropped as Vegeta walked off, all parting to make way for him.

"Real subtle." Gohan, from where he was next to Videl, muttered. "Thanks, Vegeta."

And with that, all who needed to get evaluated were. It was finally time for the tournament.

**. . . **

**Trunks vs. Goten is next,, **


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ**

**. . . **

"Alright!" The blonde, sunglasses-clad announcer yelled into his microphone, prompting screams from the crowd in the filled arena surrounding him. "Welcome one and all to the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament! Starting off, we'll be having our Junior Division! Without further ado, let's get the tournament started with our first two fighters!"

From where they sat, Pan and Bra cheered. Goten and Trunks weren't fighting yet, but they were interested in seeing the other contestants, even though they could sense little to nothing based on their power levels. Who knew; maybe they would surprise them!

The first match went on with two kids the girls didn't know. It was a bit on the boring side; both boys fighting were incredibly weak, and they weren't even that young. Pan was sure she heard the announcer say that one was at least fourteen, twice as old as she was! The first match finished, then the second, then third, fourth, fifth, and by the sixth match, with still no mention of Trunks or Goten, the girls were officially bored.

"I should have joined." Pan muttered, watching a ten-year-old throw a sloppy punch to a nine-year old. From beside her, Bra giggled, "Imagine that; all these boys talking smack just to get taken down by a girl half their height!" Both girls chuckled at the thought, as did their mothers. "Don't worry girls, I think Trunks and Goten are coming up next!" Bulma said.

Sure enough, the sixth match ended, and the announcer yelled out, "And now in this match, we have eight-year-old Trunks versus fifteen-year-old Idasa!" The crowd applauded, and the girls, their mothers, and the Z-Fighters sitting with them applauded as well.

Trunks stepped out onto the ring, followed closely by the familiar tall, skinny kid he'd seen at the punch machine, the same kid who had gotten a 63. "Are you ready to cry, short staff?" the blonde kid snickered, smirking down at Trunks as they walked up the steps.

The lavender haired hybrid kept his stone-cold gaze towards the ground as he said, "Please. Don't talk."

As the two kids made their way towards the center of the arena, Bra yelled from the sidelines, "Do your best, Nii-san!" She fell back and thought for a moment, "Oh wait, his best might actually hurt someone." She yelled again, "Do okay, Nii-san!"

Trunks, hearing his sister's words of encouragement, snorted to himself. This was at the same time Idasa said, "Ha! You sure you don't wanna beg?" he snarked. To which Trunks muttered darkly, "You sure you wanna live?"

From where the girls were seated, Oolong had come back to his seat with an ice-cream cone in hand. Before he could even begin eating it, a large, plump woman stood up, roughly bumping into the poor pig and causing the ice cream to go all over his face. "Idasa!" The woman cried, waving her arms. "I'm here, yoohoo!"

"Excuse me." Oolong grunted, scowling at the woman as she sat down. She pouted as she said, "I wish they would match Idasa with a bigger kid. This won't even warm my boy up!"

From Oolong's other side, Bulma scowled. The woman was entirely oblivious as she continued, "I just can't believe my camera decided to break! How do they expect me to take a picture of my son's rise to fame!"

Pan nearly snorted and Bra rolled her eyes. Meanwhile, Bulma, clearly irked by the woman's words, stood up from her seat and yelled, "Get him, Trunks! You make that boy sorry he ever met you!"

The woman scoffed at her. "Hun," she said, "you're dreaming."

"Says the nutcase." Pan said casually, causing Bra, Bulma and Oolong to giggle and the woman to fume. "You little twerp-!" She gritted, and Chi-Chi's eyes narrowed. Before Chi-Chi could put this woman in her place for calling her daughter a twerp, the announcer yelled, "Let's go!" And the match started.

Idasa formed a sloppy stance and taunted, "Well come on, short-cake! Fight!" Trunks only glared at him. "Don't worry; you'll feel it soon enough, big mouth."

With that, Trunks moved faster than Idasa could even blink, sweeping his leg under the older boy's, causing him to fall on his back. Before Idasa could hit the ground, Trunks kicked him upwards, sending the teen flying. With that, Trunks' victory over the boy was evident and the lavender-haired saiyan walked away casually as Idasa came crashing onto the ground, face-first.

The crowd murmured in disbelief. The woman's eyes were wide with shock. Pan was smiling at the sight but nonetheless said, "Trunks!" Quietly scolding the boy for knocking Idasa out just a bit too hard.

"Oops." Trunks said, beneath his breath as he walked away. It seemed like he was talking to himself, but the girls could hear him fine with their advanced hearing. "Maybe I shouldn't have hit him so hard, but at least he's quiet."

"True!" Bra said, chuckling. The announcer went over to check on Idasa. When no fatal injuries were found, he said, "Well, this boy is out cold! Trunks advances!"

The crowd stared wide-eyed at the retreating saiyan hybrid while Bra and Pan yelled out, "Woohoo! Go Trunks!" "Idasa!" The woman meanwhile cried out in horror. She sat down with a huff and said, "No matter! My Ekosa will do better anyway!"

"And next up we have ten-year-old Ekosa versus seven-year-old Goten!"

Pan couldn't hold in her laugh. She almost felt bad; this lady and her sons couldn't catch a break! But with all the trash talk she was doing; she was only making a fool out of her family. So, Pan almost felt bad. _Almost. _

Ekosa stepped out onto the arena followed by Goten. The bell rang, signaling the match had begun. "Well, c'mon!" Ekosa taunted, moving left and right and punching out in an attempt to scare Goten, "What's the matter, kid, you scared? Come on, it ain't gonna hurt that bad! Let's do it!"

He sent out a few more punches before he stopped, panting and clearly out of breath. It was ridiculous; Goten hadn't even done anything to him yet! Bra and Pan shared a look before shaking their heads.

Goten, ever oblivious to the threat Ekosa was trying to convey himself as, asked, "Are you okay?" Pan could feel it; her twin was genuinely confused and unsure of what to do with Ekosa, aside from just knocking him out right then and there.

"Me?" Ekosa asked, still trying to maintain his tough bravado in front of Goten. "Yeah right, kid, gimme a break! 'Am I okay?'" He mocked, scowling at the shorter boy, "Man, you're askin' for it!" With that, Ekosa yelled and moved to land a punch on Goten's face.

The oldest Son twin simply held up a finger and caught it, shocking the ten-year-old. Ekosa drew his arm back, but quickly went to knee Goten's head. Once again, Goten caught it with little to no effort. "Hey," the hybrid said, frowning slightly, "Hey, stop fooling around. C'mon, let's be serious!" He said.

And he truly meant it. But to Ekosa, it sounded like Goten was insulting him, so the older kid replied, "Touche. So, y'know a little martial arts after all. Not bad for a pint-sized kid!"

"Oooh!" the woman exclaimed, laughing. "Look, he's too scared to throw a punch at my Ekosa!" Bulma scowled at her. "I'll give him five minutes at the most!" she said before adding, "And that's only if he's extremely lucky!"

Already wounded with what happened with Idasa, the woman yelled, "Knock him out! Ekosa, floor him! I want you to knock that kid's block off, do you hear me?!"

Ekosa proceeded in throwing many random punches in the hopes that one of them would hit Goten and failing miserably. The Son twin caught Ekosa's punches and kicks with ease, muttering to himself, "This is it? This isn't very fun." After it was said, Goten simply moved his fist upward, effectively socking Ekosa on the jaw.

It wasn't very hard; not by Goten's standards and even to normal human standards. But Ekosa, like his brother, was way more talk than tough and he was pathetically weak; the one punch was enough to knock him straight out and Goten bowed as he fell.

The crowd went wild and Chi-Chi yelled, "That-a-boy! Alright, Goten!" Bra giggled over to Pan, "What a cliffhanger."

"Wow, what a punch!" the announcer said as he checked Ekosa over. "This boy is out! Out cold! Folks, we have a winner here! Let's hear it for Goten!"

The crowd went crazy and Goten smiled as he bowed again. Bulma was laughing at the woman, as was Bra and Pan. The woman, full of rage suddenly yelled, "I'm going to kill you!" And surged forward, but was met with a punch from none other than Chi-Chi. The eldest Son woman sat down with a huff saying, "Come on, who do you think taught him?" she asked in response to Yamcha's, Roshii's, and Oolong's stares as the woman collapsed.

Goten had gone back inside as everybody prepped for the rest of the rounds. Bra let out an exaggerated sigh and said, "This is boring! I want to see Trunks and Goten fight!" Pan nodded in agreement. The rest of the junior division went on painfully slowly. Then finally, after what seemed like an eternity, it was finally time for Goten and Trunks to fight.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is our great pleasure to present; The final match in the Junior World Martial Arts Championship!" The crowd went crazy, and this time the girls joined them, excited to finally see some real action.

In the arena, Goten and Trunks took their stances; firm and proper, strong with very little openings. They were perfect, and at such young ages, it was amazing to see.

"Go Goten!" "Go Trunks!" Pan and Bra yelled, respectively, before sharing a look and yelling, "Go Trunks!" "Go Goten!" Again, this time swapping names. After that happened, both girls shared a look and giggled, deciding on no set winner between the two of them.

"Just so you know," Trunks said lowly, smirking over at Goten. "I'm going to win." He said. Goten, undaunted by his friend's words, met the hybrid with a smile of his own. "Yeah," Goten said, "I'm going for the win too."

With that, the two saiyan hybrids rushed towards each other. Because of the two of them being so close in strength, they grappled quite a bit; each punch Trunks threw at Goten would be met with another punch just as strong and vice-versa. It was like these two were getting nowhere with each other, like they couldn't land a punch fatal enough to one another. It even shocked the crowd as the boys began levitating slowly in the air, continuing to fight there. The girls watched, awestruck as their brothers threw punches and kicks so fast that even they had a hard time seeing.

At one point, the two boys had rushed each other, flying towards each other at a terrifying speed. Before they could meet in the middle, however, Trunks had performed a move where it only seemed like he was coming towards Goten, when in reality, he had moved away fast enough that Goten was seeing a mere image. Goten phased right through that image, causing the Son twin to stop abruptly. This gave Trunks an opening, the eldest Brief sibling appearing behind Goten and kicking him on the back, causing him to go flying towards the edge of the ring.

Although it was agreed that there were no set winners between the girls, Pan, not wanting to see her twin lose, sat up from her seat and yelled, "Goten, stop!" Just like that, clearly hearing his twin, Goten stopped just before he could reach the out of bounds. He then proceeded to surge forwards, surprising Trunks by headbutting him before they went back to the same rhythm of fighting they were doing before.

Finally, after what seemed like a while, Goten was seemingly able to gain the advantage by sending Trunks upward and grabbing him by surprise, hooking his elbows under Trunks' armpits to keep him from moving.

"Yeah! You got him, Goten!" Chi-Chi yelled proudly while Bulma yelled, "Trunks, you better do something quick!"

No later than that was said, Trunks was able to break through Goten's hold before elbowing his cheeks. Goten flew back a few feet, having no time to recover as Trunks reappeared from above him, kicking him down towards the stage. The lavender haired saiyan dived down towards him.

Goten caught himself before he could hit the ground and flipped, heading one direction with Trunks chasing after him, before propelling himself in the other, and meeting Trunks in the middle. Both boys were able to land a punch on the other's face, causing a big surge of power. After this had happened, they went back to struggling over an advantage.

Eventually, they landed feet away from each other, both boys stopping to catch their breaths. They glared at each other, before slowly, their frowns turned into smirks. The crowd cheered as the boys slowly circled each other before coming to a stop once again.

"You're doing great, Trunks!" Pan yelled while Bra chimed, "Keep going, Goten!"

"Pretty impressive." Trunks said, still keeping his eyes on Goten. "Somehow you've managed to get a lot stronger than the last time we fought." Goten laughed. "Gee, thanks Trunks!" he beamed, "I owe it all to Gohan though; he's the one who's been training me!"

"Well he did good." Trunks said before smirking. "But not good enough. Try this!" With that, his arms flew outward and his palms began glowing a familiar yellow.

"Oh no, Nii-san!" Bra exclaimed, her eyebrows pinched with worry. "Its way too crowded in here for an energy blast! Somebody could get hurt!" Pan examined the scene for a second before shaking her head. "No, don't worry! Gohan was teaching us how to control our energy just a few days ago! Trunks is fine, he's in complete control!"

Trunks fired the energy beams towards Goten, and the younger hybrid jumped up, dodging them with ease. The blasts then traveled closer and closer towards the stands, the crowd screaming. At the last second, however, Trunks drew his hands upwards, redirected the blast so that it didn't touch the people. It flew towards the sky, ultimately out of harm's way.

From back in the ring, Trunks turned to Goten with a proud smile. "Nice, huh?" he asked. "What did you think?"

"That was really cool!" Goten said. He smiled when he added, "But Gohan taught us a little bit of that stuff too! Watch! Check this out!" Goten rose his hands and formed a familiar stance. "Ka-Me-Ha-Me-"

Trunks giggled before his eyes snapped open in worry. "Wait, did he teach you how to control it-?"

"HA!" Goten yelled, firing. Pan covered her eyes because no, even though Gohan _was _in the process of teaching Goten and Pan how to control their energy beams, it didn't exactly mean they knew how to yet.

Trunks simply moved his head to the left to dodge the beam, and the announcer just barely jumped up in time to dodge it. Thankfully, Goten wasn't facing anyone from the audience, so the beam simply destroyed a part of the entrance, skimming (and destroying) part of its roof.

"Hey," Trunks mused, hands on his hips as he looked at the damage done, "Not bad!"

Pan sighed from where she was seated. "Oh well." Bra chuckled, patting her friend. "I guess Goten still has a little bit of practice to do on that one, huh?"

Goten laughed apologetically, placing his hand on the back of his head. "Oops!" He said. "I blew up the roof!"

"You sure did!" Trunks said, a smile forming at his friend's obliviousness. "We'd better cool it, no more beams! We don't wanna blow the whole place up!"

Goten's smile grew to a grin. Trunks shook his head. "Look at you! You're loving it, aren't you?" he asked. Goten only hummed in reply. The boys suddenly took their stances yet again.

"Let's do it." Trunks said, and they ran towards each other.

The two boys once again met in the middle, Goten expecting to be met with another barrage of punches, but Trunks surprised him by grabbing onto his shirt and shifting his foot, throwing the boy upwards. Goten caught himself in mid-air, looking towards the ground for Trunks but panicking slightly when his friend was nowhere to be found.

"What? Where'd he go?" Goten wondered to himself. He continued scanning the area below him. "That's strange; there's nowhere for him to hide!"

It was then a sudden wind brushed behind Goten and Trunks suddenly appeared, repeating Goten's previous action and grabbing his friend in a strangle hold.

"Hey!" Goten yelped. He began moving his feet and arms, but Trunks wouldn't budge. "Let go of me, Trunks! How'd you do that, no fair, let me go!"

From below, the girls watched worriedly. Trunks was pulling Goten's arms back, painfully, and Goten was straining. "Give it up, Goten." Trunks said. "I don't want to have to hurt you." He pulled back more and Goten yelled out in pain, seemingly unable to take anymore. It seemed as if Trunks' victory was close at hand when a familiar golden aura suddenly burst around Goten. The Son twin went super, easily breaking out of Trunks' hold, and flying towards the ground.

"Oh no!" Bra said, remembering the agreement the boys had made on the shuttle. Trunks followed Goten shortly, frowning as he yelled, "Yo! Hello, Goten, did you forget?! We're not supposed to turn into super saiyans, dummy!"

Goten powered down and once again rubbed the back of his head, seemingly oblivious. "Oh yeah! I forgot!" He said. "Oops, sorry, I won't do it again, I promise!" Pan's lips twitched. Her twin was lying.

Trunks glared at him before his lips twitched back into a smile, "Oh, give me a break! You didn't forget! You knew darn well what you were doing, didn't you?"

Goten's eyes opened and he smiled. "Maybe!" He said.

Trunks shook his head. "Well now I'm going to embarrass you, Goten. I'm going to win this thing without one of my arms!"

Goten frowned. "There's no way! You're trying to trick me!" He accused.

Trunks smirked. "Nope, dead serious."

"Come on, Trunks, there's no chance! You," Goten's arms flailed as he exclaimed, "You can't beat me with one arm!"

Trunks merely smirked. "No left arm." He said before rushing towards Goten.

It was surprising to see the two fight at the same level they had before, what with Trunks relying solely on his right arm and landing kicks towards Goten. "Go Nii-san!" Bra cheered her brother on as Bulma yelled, "Alright, go Trunks!" and Chi-Chi yelled, "Get him, Goten!"

The boys disappeared and reappeared a few times in different spots on the arena, being too fast for the normal eye to catch. Trunks moved to land a hit on Goten, but the boy was able to dodge and land an especially hard punch on Trunks, causing the hybrid to stumble back. When Trunks was able to catch himself, he caught Goten by surprise by surging his right palm forward, an energy beam leaving from it.

"No fair!" Goten yelled as he flew up to dodge it. He caught himself in the air and yelled, "Trunks, you cheater, you said no more energy beams!"

"Sorry Goten!" Trunks called up to him before murmuring to himself, "Sorry I didn't hit you, that is."

Goten glared at him for a few seconds before beginning to head downwards, shooting himself towards Trunks at a terrifying speed. Trunks stood his ground, watching Goten, trying to calculate Goten's next move. The Z-Fighters watched in tense anticipation as the boys neared each other.

Goten finally reached the ground and with a yell, fired a concentrated energy beam that Trunks just barely dodged. "What!?" The hybrid yelled before scowling and turning super, disappearing from Goten's line of sight. Before Goten could catch himself, Trunks reappeared from behind him and fired an energy beam from his left hand, hitting Goten on the back. This caused the boy to fly out of control, unable to stop himself until he just reached the audience, who had cleared the area of the stands when Goten came towards them. He stopped, but Goten opened his eyes and yelled out in disbelief when he found he was touching the audience's seats, clearly out of bounds.

"Aw, darn." Pan said, scratching the side of her head. "Oh no!" Bra gasped at Goten's loss. Bulma was rejoicing while Chi-Chi sighed.

The announcer stared at Goten for a few minutes before getting himself together and saying, "Well ladies and gentlemen, it appears we have a winner! The champion of the 25th Junior World Championship; Trunks!"

The crowd cheered as Trunks powered down, cheering to himself and jumping up and down in joy. They announced a brief intermission before the adult division, causing everybody to leave their seats to get a drink or some food. When the girls were sure nobody was looking, they quickly flew out of their seats to meet Trunks in the arena.

"Nii-san!" Bra called when they neared him. Trunks turned to her and Pan, accepting his sister in his arms as she hugged him. "You won!" she said happily when they separated. Pan was next, and she gave Trunks a smile before hugging him as well. "Congratulations." She said, and Trunks smiled.

It was then Goten came stomping up to the three of them, scowling. "So what's the big idea, Trunks?" He demanded. "That wasn't fair at all; you lied! You said you wouldn't use your left hand or transform into a super saiyan! You did both, you jerk!"

Trunks smirked. "Hey, its just a game, right? Besides, you transformed once, so that makes us even-steven! One time each!"

"What about the left hand, Nii-san?" Bra asked, hiding her smile behind her hands. Seeing Goten pouty and angry like this was quite funny. "Eh," Trunks said, "I did slip up a little bit, but I still didn't use it to punch you, right?"

Goten's frown deepened and Trunks said, "Come on, Goten! Don't be mad at me! I'll tell you what; you can have three of my toys! You pick 'em!"

At that, Goten's face brightened. "Wow, really? Y'mean it?" he asked. Trunks turned to the girls. "You heard it." They nodded, and Goten cheered.

Trunks, now satisfied that he had won the match and had his friend back, said, "Come on! Let's go, we can grab a bite to eat before the adult division."

And with that, the four hybrids went off.

**. . . **

**Oh my gosh Trunks and Goten's fight is so much longer than I remembered. Or maybe that's just cause I kept pausing it to write down the dialogue. Either way I didn't really expect it to be a whole chapter.**

**Also oh goodness from watching those DBZ clips I can completely assure and confirm that Goten is babey; he's absolutely adorable, I love him so much! **

**ALSO ALSO I'm dreading having to write the Majin Buu/Babidi arc cause I have no idea what the heck goes on in there. I'm trying to read the wiki or watch the clips but everybody just separates and the timeline of what happens gets so confusing. If anyone would like to help me out with this, that would be great. Lol. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ.**

**. . . **

Pan and Bra could only stare at the large feast their brothers had put in front of the four of them. Goten and Trunks were currently eating to their hearts' content, which had waiters rushing to and from their table and the kitchen, struggling to keep up with the boys' appetites. Before they knew it, the table was piled high with dirty dishes and near-empty plates, along with two incredibly full hybrids.

"I'm stuffed!" Goten exclaimed, patting his belly. "You guys are unbelievable!" Bra scolded. From where she sat next to Pan, she said, "You eat like pigs! Nii-san, what would mom say if she saw you?"

"Mom's not here." Trunks retorted, using a toothpick to pick at the food stuck between his teeth. Bra glared disapprovingly and shook her head. Goten said, "Sorry Bra, we were just hungry!" He turned his head to Trunks, still wearing a bright smile. "Let's pay for this stuff and get out of here!"

Trunks suddenly froze. "I don't have any money." The hybrid said, blinking. Goten's smile immediately dropped and Bra's eyes widened in fear. Pan stopped nibbling on her eggroll, immediately setting the half-eaten food down on her plate.

"What?!" the three asked at once. Trunks, more panicked, repeated, "I don't have any money!"

"What about the money they gave you from winning the tournament?" Pan asked. Trunks shook his head. "They were gonna give me it after the entire tournament was finished!"

"Oh no, oh no," Bra panicked. "Nii-san, what are we gonna do?!"

Trunks grit his teeth, his eyes narrowed before they widened. "I have an idea. Follow me!"

A while later, the four hybrids were crawling on the floor, creeping along quietly as to not alert the chefs and waiters a few feet away from them. Trunks had the brilliant idea to hide, essentially, under vegetables and do their best to be quiet and crawl out, hoping to not make any racket as to not be noticed. It seemed to be working so far, as they were currently only a few feet away from the door, before Goten suddenly tripped, alerting the workers of the hybrids' presence.

"Hey!" one chef cried, as the Bra helped Goten up, gripping his hand in fear of getting noticed. "Scatter!" Trunks ordered, grabbing Pan's hand on instinct, and the hybrids threw the vegetables they had on the ground before booking it out the door. They could hear a few workers calling and running after them, but ultimately weren't able to catch up to them.

Pan, still gripping Trunks' hand as they ran, laughed when the lavender haired saiyan turned, pulling his eyelid down and sticking his tongue out. Goten pulled Bra along, the blunette nearly stumbling as she turned around yelling, "We're sorry!"

One of the chefs chucked a vegetable at them, yelling, "And stay out!" causing the hybrids (minus Bra, of course), to laugh.

**XxX**

"This blows." Trunks muttered. His arms were crossed and he was frowning towards the ground. They had gotten far enough away from the restaurant, and were currently lounging near the arena, the Adult Division of the tournament not yet started. "I wanted to fight with the adults."

"I think you should have." Pan said. "You and Goten were way too strong to be in the kid's division. Those other kids were really weak! It was really boring to watch."

"Until you and Goten fought." Bra added. "But Pan-Chan's right. It would be really cool to see you guys fight in the adult division!" She gasped as a thought came to her. "Maybe you'd fight against daddy! Or Gohan! Or even Goku!"

"No way," Goten shook his head. "Even if we did fight, we'd never win against them!" He frowned as he said, "And there's no way for us to anyway. Everybody kept saying we're too young."

"Shh!" Trunks suddenly said and the three hybrids directed their attention to where he was pointing. A man wearing an outfit, more noticeably a mask that covered most of his face, was standing in the clearing, seemingly waiting for the adult tournament to begin.

"Who's he?" Bra asked. "Mighty Mask, I think." Pan responded, crinkling her nose as she tried to remember. "I think he's one of the people fighting in the tournament."

"He's so weak." Trunks said. "Weaker than Mr. Satan." Goten added. An idea suddenly hit Trunks and he exclaimed, "Let's take his costume!"

"What?" Bra squeaked, suddenly taken aback by her brother's abrupt suggestion. "What are you talking about, Nii-san?"

"We'll take his costume." Trunks repeated, slower. He was smiling as he looked at the three of them. "And use the mask! That way, no one'll know that it's us and we can fight in the adult division!"

Goten frowned. "But there's no way he'll just give it to us like that." He said. And that was where Trunks smirked. "I know. We're going to knock him out and take it!"

"WHAT!?" Bra exclaimed this time, her eyes wide. She immediately covered her mouth as she was shushed before uncovering it and saying, "You're insane, Nii-san! First leaving without paying and then knocking that guy out and stealing his costume?! You're going way too far!"

Trunks waved her off. "It'll be fine." He said. "It isn't like he had a chance of winning the tournament, anyway."

"True." Pan said. With the look Bra gave her, she shrugged before looking back at Trunks. "So what? You're just gonna go over there and hit him?"

"Watch." Trunks said, leaving their hiding place and heading over to the man. Goten and Pan watched with a bit of eager anticipation and curiosity while Bra covered her eyes.

"Excuse me." Trunks said as he reached him, pulling on his pant leg. Mighty Mask glanced down at him. "What do you want, kid?" he asked. Trunks pointed in the direction of the three hybrids and the twins ducked their heads out of sight before Mighty Mask could see them.

"Someone over there is saying that he could arm wrestle you and beat you! He's saying if you win, he'll give you a thousand zeni!" At the mention of the large amount of money, Might Mask's eyes widened. "What? Who?" he asked eagerly.

Trunks feigned innocence as he said, "I dunno, but he's really short and skinny." At that mention, Mighty Mask laughed and said, "Lead the way, kid!"

Trunks took his hand and pulled him along. "Come on, he's just around the corner!" He said. He stopped near where the other three hybrids were as Mighty Mask looked around, eager to win the money he had been promised. With him distracted, Trunks smirked and made his move, disappearing and reappearing behind the man's head before elbowing him.

The attack was more than enough to knock him out and the man collapsed. Bra squeaked as she heard the loud thud and as Trunks poked his head to look at the other three, grinning with his thumbs up.

"How do we look?" Trunks asked a few minutes later, as he and Goten were able to drag the man in and hide him before stealing his costume. Goten was currently on the bottom with Trunks standing on his shoulders, wearing the mask to obscure their identities.

"Weird," Pan said. "But is it convincing enough?" Trunks asked and she shrugged. "I guess so."

"This is such a bad idea," Bra said, shaking her head. "What'll happen if you two get caught?"

"We won't," Trunks reassured her. "Just cover for us, okay?" Bra shook her head but nonetheless agreed, as did Pan. The two boys began to walk off, but Goten suddenly tripped over his own feet, nearly toppling the two of them over.

"Careful!" Trunks hissed. "Sorry!" Goten said back. "It's really hard to see down here."

"Here, I have an idea!" Pan said. She poked holes towards the bottom of the costume so that her twin could see, without it being too obvious or visible to anyone that didn't look extremely closer. "Much better!" Goten exclaimed.

"Wish us luck!" Trunks said, and Pan responded with a thumbs up as the two walked off, Goten still struggling for a bit before eventually getting the hang of it. Bra shook her head as they left, very not used to the bad-kid behavior her brother was making her an accomplice to. Pan giggled at her, taking her friend's hand and saying, "Let's head back!"

With that, the two girls were off.

**XxX**

"There you two are!" Bulma said as Pan and Bra took their seats between her and Chi-Chi. "Sorry for taking so long, Mama! Obasan!" Pan apologized, acknowledging both women.

Chi-Chi reassured the two with a wave of her hand before looking around. "Where are your brothers?" she asked. "I thought they were with you."

Pan noticed Bra nearly freeze and said, "We left them at the restaurant. They were eating too much!" She said, making a face. Bra, seemingly relaxing at Pan's excuse, added, "It was really messy!" she said, also feigning disgust.

Bulma chuckled at the thought. "Why am I not surprised?" she mused.

With that settled, Bra let out a soft sigh of relief and Pan directed her attention towards the arena, the Adult Division finally beginning.

"And welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, to the Adult Division in the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament!" the blonde announcer yelled, earning cheers from the crowded stadium. He continued, "Boy do we have some exciting fighters participating today! So without further ado, let's welcome our first contestants! Krillin versus Pintar!"

The crowd and the Z-Fighters cheered, though the latter more towards the mention of their friend. "Go Krillin!" Pan and Bra chorused, watching as a very large man stepped out, followed by the much shorter, but much, _much _stronger Krillin. They could hear the man talk smack and Pan rolled her eyes when he began doing cartwheels to try and show off how agile and nimble he was, telling Krillin that outmaneuvering him was not an option. At some point he had even offered to give Krillin the first punch, telling him to not hold back; Krillin did what he asked and the match ended extremely quickly after that point, Krillin sending the man flying and crashing off the arena.

"Alright!" Bra and Bulma cheered as the crowd went wild. Krillin waved a bit before walking off the stage, the announcer introducing the next match.

"Next up, we have Shin vs. Majunior!" he said.

Bra frowned. "Who's that?" she asked. "Mr. Piccolo!" Pan said, smiling. She was eager to watch the man who had taught her brother at a young age fight. A few seconds passed and a short man with purple skin, white hair and elf-like ears stepped out into the ring but Piccolo didn't follow him.

"Majunior?" the announcer called, looking for the Namekian. The smile left Pan's face and the saiyaness frowned. "Where is he?"

One of the workers had run up to the announcer and whispered something in his ear before returning to where he was. It was hard to see past his sunglasses but the announcer was clearly confused and in a bit of disbelief as he said, "Alright, ladies and gentlemen, I've just received word that Majunior has forfeited the fight! Shin advances!"

There was few applause as the purple man walked back into the waiting area for contestants, the crowd mostly murmuring in confusion.

"Why didn't Piccolo fight?" Yamcha asked. "I don't know. That's not very like him…" Bulma replied.

Pan frowned but didn't allow Piccolo's quitting the tournament to ruin her excitement, removing the frown from her face and smiling as the announcer said, "Fighting next, we have Videl versus Spopovich!"

The crowd went wild at the mention of Mr. Satan's daughter. Pan was cheering loudly, yelling, "Go Videl!" As the teen stepped out into the ring.

Videl took a last glance at Gohan, who smiled and nodded at her, before turning back and continuing forward. She caught sight of Pan in the audience and gave the girl a kind smile and a wave before devoting her full attention towards the muscular man in front of her.

Pan beamed and sat back as the fight was about to begin. "Is that Gohan's girlfriend?" Bra asked from beside Pan and the girl nodded. "Uh huh! That's Videl and she's really nice and strong! Uh, for a human." She added.

The bell rung and the fight began. Videl bowed towards the man before she surged forward, delivering a kick to his shin. Spopovich flew backwards, barely able to catch himself. As soon as he landed on both feet, Videl continued, delivering quick punches and kicks.

"Alright!" The announcer yelled. "Looks like Videl is on the attack! What a fighter!"

Videl drew back at that point and with a loud yell, delivered a strong kick to Spopovich's chest. The large man fell back with a heavy thud, his eyes screwed shut.

Pan and Bra cheered at Videl's apparent victory as the announcer said, "Spopovich is down! And it looks like he's down for good! I'll start the count!"

However, as soon as that was said, Spopovich's eyes flew open and he got up, eliciting loud screams and looks of disbelief from the crowd. Videl narrowed her eyes and readied herself once more as Spopovich came towards her. The two met each other with quick punches and some kicks from Videl. Each time, the girl was able to dodge and get the upper hand, sending Spopovich to the ground but the man always got back up and charged her.

With what was about the sixth time Spopovich had gotten back up, Pan felt herself tense. "B-Chan." She murmured quietly, dropping her hands from around her mouth. The blunette looked at her friend, confused to find Pan's eyes narrowed towards the arena.

"What's wrong?" Bra asked. Pan shook her head. "Somethings wrong. This guy's bad news, I can feel it!" Bra looked back towards the fight, only now realizing how odd it was that Spopovich kept going like this, especially with a trail of blood leaking from the side of his mouth. He was only human, wasn't he? This definitely wasn't normal.

The two girls quieted down, watching the rest of the fight uneasily. Spopovich charged Videl one more time before he was able to get a good kick at her, good enough to send her out of the ring.

"Oh no!" Bra gasped, eyes wide as Videl was going to hit the ground outside. Pan stayed quiet, already knowing how Videl was going to play. Like the saiyaness suspected, Videl had taken the lessons she'd been having with the Son siblings and focused her ability to fly to keep her from touching the ground. This allowed her to remain in the match, the crowd and announcer going wild when Videl's feet touched the ground.

Videl glared at the muscled man in front of her before charging. Instead of going for his gut like she had been previously, she jumped up and delivered a particularly nasty blow to the man's head.

The girl's eyes widened in horror as Spopovich's head took a nasty turn, in a way that only a broken neck would allow. The man collapsed and Videl, realizing what she had done, fell to her knees.

"Oh no..." Bra murmured worriedly. Pan shook her head, "She didn't..."

"Well," the announcer said, his head hung low. "That's it. Videl has finally taken down her opponent but will be disqualified for using excessive force. Those are the rules."

Videl's head hung at the words, but it snapped back up when there was movement from in front of her. Like something straight out of a horror movie, Spopovich had gotten back up, twisted neck and all, and towered over Videl. With a terrifying _SNAP! _ Spopovich reached up and put his neck and head back to normal.

Videl could only stare in horror at the man in front of her, as the rest of the crowd did. Pan, finally getting pushed over the edge with the situation, yelled, "Get outta there, Videl!"

Too stunned to react, Videl didn't realize Spopovich rearing his leg back until she was kicked straight in the face. The teen fell back with a thud, now sporting a bloody nose.

Videl sat up, wincing, as Spopovich charged her again. This time, however, the daughter of the world champ took flight, outmaneuvering the man by taking into the air. She stared Spopovich down, daring him to make the next move when suddenly, and quite horrifically, Spopovich began levitating.

"No..." Videl murmured with wide eyes. "He can't-!" Spopovich picked up his pace and the girl braced herself when suddenly, he flew past her. Videl looked back up, dumbstruck. Before she could realize what was happening, Spopovich's hands glowed a dark purple and he sent the beams towards Videl, giving her no time to dodge. Videl roughly landed back on the arena.

"Stay down, Videl." Pan begged quietly. Her plea went unheard as Videl picked herself up. Spopovich landed, and the girl once again charged him. But in a terrifying turn of events, Spopovich now had the upper hand, landing a punch straight to the girl's face. It was powerful enough to send her out of the ring, and she would have fallen if not for Spopovich catching her leg and throwing her back in. From there, he proceeded to beat her harshly, showing absolutely no mercy.

Bra had screamed and hid her face while Pan shut her eyes. From where he was with his father, Vegeta and Krillin, Gohan tensed. With each punch Videl took, he got more and more angry and his energy was beginning to build up.

"Hey," Goku said, noticing his son's distress. "No, stop. Just calm down." He ordered. "Don't do it Gohan. You are _not _going out there."

Gohan seemingly didn't hear his father's words. As Spopovich had his foot atop Videl's head and he began crushing it, her pained scream was too much for him to bear. In a burst of energy, Gohan's hair turned golden. His rage pushed him further, going level 2 instead of just level 1.

"I'm taking him down!" The eldest Son child snarled. Krillin tried calming him down to which Gohan replied, "Don't try to stop me."

Videl was shrieking now as Spopovich continued crushing her. Bra was covering her ears and crying. Bulma was hugging her tightly while Chi-Chi hugged Pan, the Son women watching the scene worriedly. Pan felt her brother's energy level increase, leaving her to guess that he turned super; that was okay with her, as long as somebody saved Videl from that monster before it was too late.

Thankfully, miraculously, Spopovich suddenly stopped crushing Videl's head under his foot and gave her a harsh kick, sending her off of the arena. The girls watched as Gohan rushed towards the beaten Videl, kneeling down and murmuring something to her before picking her up and rushing her back inside.

Pan gripped Chi-Chi tighter, relieved that the horrific fight was now over, but still quite shaken from what she had just seen. The crowd was murmuring and there was a brief intermission to treat Videl's injuries.

"Pan," Chi-Chi said, and the girl looked up at her. "I want you and Bra to go find your fathers, okay? I have a feeling they'll know what's going on." She knew her daughter's distress and felt that Goku could help ease it, even just a little bit. Pan nodded and took Bra's hand and the two were off.

**XxX**

The two girls had made their way to where they knew the rest of the contestants were in time to see Goku take flight. "Come on!" Pan urged, pulling Bra inside. They found Vegeta and Gohan standing near each other, as well as Eighteen, Krillin and Piccolo. All Z-Fighters were looking down, visibly distraught.

"Nii-San!" Pan said at the same time Bra had called, "Daddy!" The two girls rushed over, and Bra had let go of Pan, giving her father a hug. In a rare moment fueled by the fondness and love he had for his daughter, Vegeta hugged her back, giving her reassuring pats as he was sure she had seen the horrific display and could sense Spopovich's malicious intent.

Gohan had picked Pan up, the siblings giving each other a big hug. "Is Videl going to be okay?" Pan sniffed as they separated. Gohan gave her a tired smile. "She'll be fine," he answered. "Papa went to go get some Senzu beans from Korin. They'll easily fix up any injury Videl has no problem." At Pan's still teary eyes and weary look, Gohan ruffled her hair. "Don't worry squirt, Videl will be just fine. She's strong."

Believing in her older brother, Pan nodded and was let down moments after. "Dad should be back soon with the Senzu beans. When Videl is healed, they'll continue on with the matches. Go tell mom and everybody else what happened, okay? I'm sure they're all worried."

"Okay. Good luck on your matches, Nii-San." Pan sniffed. "Tell everybody else I said good luck, too."

"Thanks, Pan-Chan." Gohan smiled. Pan offered him a weak smile as she was rejoined by Bra, who appeared calmer than when they had stepped in. "Good luck, daddy." The girl said to Vegeta one last time, hugging him. When she rejoined Pan, she said, "Good luck to you too, Gohan."

"Thanks, B-Chan." Gohan said.

Finally getting some closure in learning that Videl would be okay, the two girls made their way back to their mothers and informed their small group of the situation before eventually taking their seats once more. A few minutes passed and finally the announcer said, "Ladies and gentlemen, we've finally received word that Videl is going to be okay! We can officially continue with the tournament!"

The crowd cheered but Pan could only bite her lip nervously at the announcer's next words.

"Next up! Its Saiyaman versus Kibito!"

**. . . **

**Oop. Okay full disclaimer here: To help me with this fic, along with the clips and wiki, I'm also reading scenes from Pannabee's 'Butterflies' story (I mentioned it in the first chapter,,) so that's why a lot of what happened here (and a lot of what could follow-I dunno, I havent written it yet-) looks like her story. **

**Again I'm not trying to rewrite her Butterflies fanfiction, though please check that out it's amazing, so if there is a problem I will happily take down this chapter and rewrite it. This fic is essentially me rewriting the DBZ canon to fit Pan and Bra into the narrative and how different things may have gone if they joined Goten and Trunks as friends in childhood. **

**Again, if theres any problem then I will gladly try and change the chapter but I hope you enjoyed it anyway.**

**Edit: Sorry if this chapter gets reposted a bit, I'm fixing some errors and putting the doc back!**


	11. Chapter 11

The crowds cheered as a man who bore somewhat of the same resemblance as Shin stepped out, the main differences being Kibito's height and size as well as his skin, which was more of a pink-ish color. Gohan, clad in his Saiyaman outfit but missing his bandana, stepped out after him and the two faced each other in the arena.

Everybody cheered at seeing Satan City's new hero. Somewhere in the crowd sat Gohan's classmates, two of them being Sharpener and Erasa, blondes that had encountered the Son when he'd first gotten to the high school.

"Y'know, I still think he looks familiar." Erasa said, looking down at Saiyaman. "Uh yeah." Another one of their classmates said from beside Sharpener. He was looking through a pair of binoculars as he added, "That _does _look like Gohan."

"Give me those!" Sharpener ordered, taking the device before the other boy could protest. He stared straight at Saiyaman for a good minute or two before the realization hit him. "You're right! It's been Gohan all along, how did I miss it?"

"I don't believe it." Erasa said, shaking her head. "Even if that is Gohan down there, I still think he just signed up secretly and borrowed the name!" Sharpener, returning the binoculars, gave her a look. "Now why would he do that, Erasa?"

Erasa smiled as held up a finger. "Don't you see, it's because he's shy!" "Well," Sharpener said, turning to her, "if he's not Saiyaman, he's soon to be in big trouble."

"Nothing solves trouble like cheering." Their third classmate suggested. "Let's hear it!"

"Go Gohan!" Chi-Chi was cheering from where she sat. "Mama!" Pan shushed her, trying to keep her brother's alter ego a secret when suddenly loud calls of, "GO GOHAN!" "YOU CAN DO IT, GOHAN!" came from somewhere else in the crowds.

The saiyaness turned, as did her brother, finding the three teens standing up and waving, cheering him on. Shock filled his features as he asked, "How did they know it was me?" before finally deciding that the charade was up. With a sigh, Gohan took his shades and threw them away, giving his classmates an awkward smile.

Chi-Chi beamed, finally able to see her eldest Son's face as he fought. Gohan turned and waved at his mother and sister before finally keeping his attention directed towards his opponent.

Kibito stared down at him before finally speaking.

"I know you're a saiyan."

Gohan froze. The hybrids as well as the other Z-Fighters that heard Kibito were also stunned. "H-How did he…" Bra whispered, but quieted down when Kibito continued, "I want you to turn into a super saiyan."

Gohan grit his teeth. "Are you crazy? There's no way I'll do that!" he said. Kibito merely frowned down at him. "I will not fight you if you refuse." He said.

Gohan frowned. "Well," he said to himself, already rolling his shoulders back. He had already revealed one secret. It wouldn't hurt if he revealed his other one, right? As Gohan got into a familiar stance, electricity buzzed around the arena, golden sparks jumping from the tiles. They could already feel Gohan's power rise immensely, even with just the golden aura flashing on and off around him.

"Last chance for requests." Gohan gritted out to Kibito. He glared as he said, "You wanna see me turn into a super saiyan or do you want me to take it to the next level?"

At Kibito's shocked look, Gohan pushed his transformation further. He let out a familiar scream as his eyes flashed from black to teal and the golden aura grew stronger before covering nearly the entire stadium. The crowd yelled out in amazement as the light finally faded, revealing Gohan in his super saiyan 2 form.

"He did it!" Bulma gasped. Chi-Chi was smiling proudly. "That's MY son!" she declared. From beside the two women, Pan and Bra could only look at each other. As cool as it was to see Gohan turn super, they had an incredibly bad feeling about this… Who exactly was this guy? How in the world did he know that Gohan was a saiyan, let alone that he could go super? None of it was making sense and the hybrids feared it would lead up to something bad.

"No way…" Videl whispered from where she watched, awed. She almost couldn't believe her eyes. Gohan, her boyfriend Gohan, was not only the Great Saiyaman but _also _the Gold Fighter! This seemed so impossible, yet there it was, right in front of her.

The crowd watched, eager to see what would happen next. Pan tensed.

In a sudden turn of events, Spopovich and his companion, Yamu, rushed out from where they were standing. The larger man had leapt, making a grab for Gohan. The latter turned, seemingly ready to defend himself when suddenly there was a flash of blue that surrounded his form, holding him completely still.

"_GOHAN!" _Pan screamed as her brother was grabbed by Spopovich, the man keeping hid arm locked around Gohan's neck. Yamu was quick to follow, holding a strange device in his hand that had a needle on one end of it. One that he used to stab Gohan's stomach with.

The eldest Son screamed as it began to drain his energy. Kibito had looked down while Yamu and Spopovich were laughing. "If anybody wants to be a hero," Spopovich said, over Gohan's pained screams, "think twice!"

Pan, with her eyes full of tears, scowled at the two men. She was shaking, and Bra only had time to grab her shirt when Pan leapt out of her seat, about to aimlessly charge the two men assaulting her brother.

From where they were watching, away from the rest of the adults in order to not have to stay in the uncomfortable costume, Trunks and Goten were in the same position. "Let me go!" Goten yelled, struggling against the grip Trunks had on him. It pained Trunks almost as much as it pained Goten to just sit there and let this happen to Gohan, but what could they do? They weren't half as strong as Gohan was. Goten, with tears beginning to form in his eyes, shrieked, "_Nii-san!" _

Finally, after some time, the horror show finally ended. Gohan's hair had fallen from gold to black once more. A light had emitted from the device Yamu was using to drain Gohan's energy, temporarily blinding everyone in the stadium. It subsided a few seconds later.

Spopovich had finally let go of Gohan, the drained teen falling on his knees and collapsing. Yamu and Spopovich chuckled before they took off, seemingly satisfied that they had got what they had came for.

Pan, being worriedly hugged by Chi-Chi, watched as Shin rushed out minutes after the two men flew off, followed closely by Piccolo. Videl had rushed out from where she was watching and worriedly knelt down next to her boyfriend. He was pale and sweating and extremely weak but he was breathing and that was all that she could ask for. Goku had come out and murmured something to Kibito before taking off after Shin and Piccolo with Vegeta and Krillin following him.

"Daddy!" Bra exclaimed. Bulma watched her husband fly away with her eyebrows pinched in worry. Chi-Chi kept her eyes on Gohan, watching as Kibito knelt down, placing his large hand on Gohan's back. A glow suddenly emitted from him and Videl cried out in relief when she saw his skin return to his normal color while his eyes, which were droopy, shot open.

From where they watched, Trunks had finally let go of Goten and the younger hybrid had calmed down. "What's the deal?" Trunks murmured, confused at seeing the golden glow move Kibito was currently performing on Gohan while also feeling the eldest Son's power return, albeit at a very gradual pace. "Did Gohan lose?"

"I don't know." Goten said worriedly. His eyebrows were pinched as he frowned. "But he got hurt."

From where she and Bra were, Pan was sharing the same look and feeling as her twin. "I hope he'll be alright." Bra murmured, watching as Kibito sent the medical workers with a stretcher running away.

After a few more minutes, the glow emitting from Kibito disappeared and the man straightened himself. To everybody's surprise and the Z-Fighters' relief, Gohan followed shortly after.

"Gohan!" Videl exclaimed, smiling as her boyfriend got up, clenching his hands into fists. "Do you feel better now?"

"I feel even stronger than before!" Gohan admitted. He turned his head towards Kibito, who turned away from the two. "What did you do?"

Kibito only said simply, "If you come with me, all will be explained." And with that, he took off into the air. Gohan looked ready to follow him, to which Videl pleaded to come with them as well.

"I'll be careful!" she insisted. She was giving Gohan a look and, even without her being his girlfriend, he always found saying no to Videl Satan was a very hard thing to do.

Gohan sighed. "Alright." He said. Videl smiled and the two took off, following after Kibito.

"Where are they going?" Pan asked as she watched her brother and Videl fly further away. The crowd had been shocked into a brief silence with the announcer struggling to figure out what to do with over half of the contestants flying off. "I don't know, sweetheart." Chi-Chi said. She rubbed her daughter's back, as she knew what had just happened to Gohan had to distress her greatly. "But it looks like they went after Papa. He won't let anything happen to them." She reassured.

Pan smiled weakly but struggled to find solace in her mother's words. Every single thing that happened today seemed to get weirder and worse. She couldn't help but feel something even more terrible was coming.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" The announcer said, breaking the saiyaness out of her thoughts. "We apologize for that brief intermission! There are only five contestants left and it has been decided by the World Champ himself that they will participate in an all-out brawl! Whoever wins this will be declared the winner of the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament!"

The crowd cheered as the last contestants, Eighteen, Jewel, Killa, Trunks and Goten (as Mighty Mask) and, of course, Mr. Satan stepped out onto the ring. The alleged 'World Champ' was waving, offering the crowd his signature peace signs and Pan rolled her eyes. Willing herself to not worry about her papa and everybody else that had left the tournament, the saiyaness devoted her full attention to the match in front of her.

Everybody in their seats were cheering for Eighteen. Pan and Bra, currently being the only ones that knew of Mighty Mask's real identities, wished the boys a silent victory before chorusing, "Go Eighteen!"

The match had begun and the blonde had easily taken care of Jewel while Trunks and Goten got Killa out of the ring immediately. Mr. Satan had opted to go for the technique where he waited the match out, going on offense instead of defense, waiting until everybody else had knocked each other out of the ring. With basically only the three of them left, Trunks and Eighteen glared at each other.

The ex-android acted first, rushing the mask clad hybrids. If they were normal people, this would have easily taken them by surprise, but along with Eighteen actually slowing herself down for the tournament, and the hybrids being stronger and more skilled than most, then dodged, disappearing.

"Whoa!" the crowd gasped. Mighty Mask reappeared in the air and Eighteen gave chase, throwing punches before the two could recollect themselves. Trunks yelped as he struggled to catch Eighteen's fists before they could reach his face.

"Punches!" Goten grunted from below him, struggling to keep Trunks securely on his shoulders with the brute force Eighteen was hitting them with. "Throw punches, Trunks!"

"I know!" Trunks responded. "but I can't get my hips squared!"

Eighteen had fallen back after a bit and the boys wobbled before rushing forwards, Trunks throwing the android a few punches which she dodged easily. Finally getting their bearings together, Trunks started punching more aggressively, which Eighteen found a bit harder to outmaneuver. In a very lucky hit, Trunks was able to get her on the cheek, sending the female back.

Eighteen scowled at them and rushed forward, she and Trunks now exchanging blows too quick for the regular eye to see.

"Eighteen!" "Go Eighteen!" The Z-Fighters cheered loudly, earning looks at how casually they were acting towards people fighting in the sky. Bulma in particular had yelled loudly, "Send that masked guy flying!"

Pan had covered her mouth, hiding her laugh with a cough. If only she knew…

Eighteen and Mighty Mask exchanged one particularly strong punch before both flew back, catching their breaths. "Hey, how come the girls aren't cheering for us?" Goten wondered. "Hello, we're wearing a disguise!" Trunks said. He set his sights forward as he added, "And maybe this Mask guy was a total creep."

Eighteen came at them once again and Mighty Mask opted to dodge this time instead of meeting her with their own punches.

Chi-Chi watched worriedly from below, seeing Mighty Mask expertly meet every attack Eighteen threw at him, as well as counter it with one of his own. "He's strong!" she said and Pan could only smile.

After a while, Eighteen was finally able to get the upper hand by tricking her masked opponent, disappearing to dodge before reappearing above him, getting him by surprise and sending him down towards the arena. Mr. Satan yelled as Mighty Mask crashed, creating a large dent in the stone tiles. The champ himself was just barely able to keep himself from touching the grass.

From within their mini-crater, Trunks winced. "That really hurt." He murmured. "Hey," Goten said, "how about we switch? I'll be the arms for a little bit." He offered. Trunks agreed and the two quickly swapped places.

During this, the announcer had gone over to Mighty Mask's seemingly still form, saying, "Mighty Mask is down! Does this mean he's out of the competition?"

At that, the two sprung up, startled the announcer and Mr. Satan. "No it doesn't!" Goten declared, now the head. He had lowered his voice but it sounded so obviously faked that Pan and Bra couldn't help but giggle. "They switched!" Bra mused quietly.

Unbeknownst to the hybrids, Master Roshii had his head down, eyeing Mighty Mask as he took off, once again exchanging blows with Eighteen. The blonde was shocked to find her opponent fight differently than before, Trunks proving to be better legs while Goten was a much better puncher. The two were able to send her flying back.

"Let's finish it!" Trunks declared and they rushed forward. Before they could reach Eighteen, the android had recovered and fired an energy beam at the hybrids, which they had just barely dodged. She then rushed forward, punching and kicking them yet again.

"I'll win this no matter what!" Eighteen declared, while Trunks said, "If she wins this, you're not getting any toys!"

Goten, temporarily distracted by Trunks' declaration, exclaimed, "Aw that's no fair you can't promise me one thing and then-!" He was stopped as Eighteen successfully punched him straight on the nose, sending Goten back a bit. Trunks panicked as Goten was unable to collect himself, Eighteen once again sending the two of them down to the same crater they had formed earlier.

"Trade me!" Trunks groaned irritably and Goten only murmured a dazed, "Okay." Before the two of them did so and they were back up in the air less than a minute later.

Eighteen, getting irritated at her opponent that kept coming, sent an energy blast his way. "Get us outta the way!" Trunks yelped and Goten flailed, just barely lifting his legs to avoid the blast which had now been sent towards Mr. Satan, who panicked and fled, hugging the announcer.

The crowd looked at him for a moment before the man fixed himself and laughed heroically in an effort to save face. Pan only shook her head at Videl's father.

From above, Goten had the idea to go super. "I bet she can't fight us, it'll be a stack!" He said. "You're a genius!" Trunks proclaimed before the two of them powered up.

"Oh no!" Bra said but was shushed by Pan who glanced at their mothers but relaxed when she found their attention was towards the fight and were shocked when Mighty Mask turned yellow but still oblivious. She breathed out a sigh of relief, thankful Chi-Chi and Bulma couldn't sense energy levels.

Eighteen, however, could and she smirked. "Now I get what's going on." She said. "Somebody just went super saiyan."

Trunks and Goten had agreed on firing an energy blast, and Eighteen's eyes widened as they fired. She just barely dodged, the beam flying past her causing a large explosion, to which the audience and Mr. Satan blanched at, the latter fainting.

Eighteen scowled, calling over, "You sure remind me of two little kids I know named Trunks and Goten!"

Trunks and Goten, as well as Pan and Bra who could hear Eighteen's declaration from below panicked and all four hybrid's exclaimed quietly, "She knows!"

Eighteen sent them an energy blast similar to her husband's disc slicers and the boys panicked, heading opposite directions. This pulled their costume, right on time for the disc to cut right through it, separating and revealing the two hybrids.

Trunks scowled down at Goten. "You were supposed to go the other way!" he yelled. Goten countered, "Maybe you were supposed to go the way I did!"

The Z-Fighters had gasped, Chi-Chi and Bulma fuming. "Why you little-!" the blunette growled and Pan sighed. Looks like the boys were busted.

Trunks and Goten had ditched their costume, still rushing towards Eighteen in their super forms in an effort to beat her and win. From below, recovering from his shock at the reveal of the two kids, exclaimed, "Hey, stop! You're disqualified!"

The three immediately stopped fighting after that, Goten's eyes wide and full of disappointment when he said, "Wait, what? We're disqualified?"

Trunks looked down, catching a glance at their angry mothers and he blanched. He then made eye contact with Pan, silently communicating a message with her. Thankfully, the raven haired saiyaness understood when he subtly moved his head back, and she nodded. Trunks said to Goten, "Uh oh. Time to go!" And the hybrid grabbed the back of his friend's shirt, leading him away.

"Come on, B-Chan!" Pan said, grabbing the girl's hand and pulling her along. "Hey!" Chi-Chi exclaimed as Pan and Bra rushed through the crowds. "You girls get back here!"

"Sorry Mama!" Pan exclaimed, already pretty far into the crowd. "We'll be back!"

Pan pulled Bra out of the stadium, near the waiting area where they found their brothers waiting for them, having powered down from their super saiyan forms.

"You guys got caught!" Bra exclaimed, once they had reached them. "I know." Trunks huffed. He kicked a pebble before glancing up at the girls. "How angry are they?" he asked.

"Pretty angry." Pan said. She rubbed the back of her neck as she added, "Mama says you guys are grounded."

Goten whined and Trunks sighed at the mention of that. "Well," he said. "If we're already in trouble then there's no use staying here."

Bra blinked. "What do you mean, Nii-san?" she asked. "We're gonna go after Dad and Gohan and the rest of them." Trunks said.

The twins, startled, yelped, "We are?" "You are?" at the same time. Trunks nodded. "They were talking about a wizard! Or something cool like that." Trunks shrugged.

Bra's eyebrows pinched in worry. "I don't think that's a very good idea, you guys." She said. "You're already in a lot of trouble…"

"Exactly." Trunks said. He turned to Goten. "Don't you wanna see what happened with Gohan? Where they all went?" he asked.

At the mention of his older brother, Goten murmured, "Yeah…" Trunks nodded. "Then its settled."

"Let me come too!" Pan insisted and the three hybrids looked at her. "I want to see what happened, what Nii-San and Papa and Vegeta went to go check out! Please, let me come!" she pleaded.

Goten hesitated at his twin. Trunks shook his head. "Stay with Bra. Me and Goten are already in enough trouble. I don't wanna drag you into it too."

Pan deflated at the answer, to which Bra pat her back. The saiyaness sighed before saying, "Okay. But be careful. And tell us everything as soon as you get back."

"Promise." Goten nodded, and the two boys bid their sisters one last bye before taking off. Pan sniffed, right on time for a loud cheering to come from within the arena.

"Let's go back." Bra said and Pan allowed the blunette to guide her back into the stadium, still worried for what was still about to come.

**. . . **

**Ok I know I'm going way too in depth for scenes like the fights that don't really matter but.. I dunno. I try to shorten them but it just doesn't feel right and I add on until it becomes a rewrite of the entire thing. Sorry about that. **

**Also can I add how dumb the plan for Gohan's energy to get sapped was? As a kid I always thought Kibito and the Supreme Kai were under Babidi's spell or smthing and that's why they went along with Gohan getting drained but apparently not? I dunno that whole thing just didn't make sense to me…**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ**

**. . . **

The two saiyanesses stepped back into the arena, making their way through the crowd before finding their seats next to Chi-Chi and Bulma. "Girls!" The blunette exclaimed. "Where are your brothers, where did they go?"

"They went to go find Papa and Nii-San." Pan answered, finding no need to lie to their mothers any longer. "And Daddy!" Bra chimed. She fiddled with her shirt when she added, "Since they were already in trouble, they said they wanted to go see what happened."

"Of course," Yamcha murmured. He didn't add anything else, as to not upset Bulma and Chi-Chi further but he couldn't help the small smile that had formed on his lips because of course those boys would do something like this. They _were _their fathers' sons, after all.

Chi-Chi huffed. "Those boys!" She fumed, shaking her head. She was definitely upset but she found it hard to be surprised. The same went for Bulma, who couldn't say she was exactly shocked at their antics, now that she looked back.

The women sighed. "Alright." Chi-Chi concluded. "I suppose there's nothing we can do until they get back."

Pan sighed in relief before turning her attention towards the ring, where Eighteen was now prepped to fight Mr. Satan. She currently had the man in a strangle hold and seemed to be winning, to the displeasure of the crowd. Eighteen was murmuring something to him, but she could barely hear, Mr. Satan's loud and quite pathetic whimpering drowning out any noise from the android.

She was only able to catch Eighteen murmur, "Good choice, champ." Before the female was suddenly thrown back. The crowd cheered as she landed on the ground, Mr. Satan laughing victoriously. He stood straight for a minute, relishing in the praise as Eighteen got back up.

"Alright!" Mr. Satan declared, squaring his shoulders before rushing towards Eighteen. "No more fooling around! Feel my true power!" With a loud yell, he delivered a punch straight to Eighteen's face. Pan had to hold in a snort when it didn't faze the android, the blonde instead giving him a deadpan. There was only a few seconds of hesitation, however, so the crowd didn't find anything too suspicious as the punch sent Eighteen flying, right off the stage.

The Z-Fighters shook their heads as the rest of the audience screamed in delight with Mr. Satan once again being proclaimed as the World Champ.

"Well," Master Roshii said as he began to stand up. "Shows over." The rest of the adults seemed to follow him, discussing what they were going to do until they waited for those who left to return when suddenly a strange energy filled the air.

Pan and Bra's, as well as everybody else's attention was directed towards the center of the arena as Vegeta suddenly appeared along with Goku, Gohan, and Shin. Bra immediately grabbed her mother, already getting a bad feeling. Her father had a large, strange M on his forehead, reminiscent of Spopovich and Yamu.

Vegeta had powered up to a super saiyan as soon as his feet touched the ground. He turned, slowly raising his left arm and pointing at Goku, giving the taller saiyan a sickening grin.

"Its time, Kakarot." He said lowly. Pan watched, tensed as her father narrowed his eyes. "Vegeta," she heard him say, "snap out of it. Please!"

Vegeta didn't acknowledge him, laughing as the hand that was pointing at Goku opened up, a bright light emitting from his palm. Pan gasped in horror as a bright, powerful beam was fired from it, hitting her father dead on. Goku was able to block it with his arms crossed in front of him but was struggling to withhold it, getting pushed back by its force. Finally, when it became too much, Goku was forced to fly up and the beam went flying towards the audience.

"Look out!" Shin yelled and Chi-Chi and Bulma hugged their daughters, covering them from the scene. The people the energy beam was aimed towards scrambled away in time, the attack leaving a gaping hole in the stands, but also destroying part of the city.

The Z-Fighters blanched at the destruction Vegeta had caused. Bulma shook her head as tears welled up in her eyes. Her husband had just killed people... _Innocents_. This couldn't be her Vegeta. This couldn't be the same man she had fallen in love with and married, whom she had started a family with..!

Vegeta looked to be ready to fire another attack and, before she could stop herself, Bulma screamed, "VEGETA, NO!"

This alerted the saiyan and the rest of the group towards them. Goku and Gohan's eyes widened, seeing a clearly scared Chi-Chi and Pan in the stands. Vegeta scowled, turned the attack towards them and, before anyone could stop him, fired.

"No!" The Sons yelled. The Z-Fighters in the stands braced themselves. Bulma sobbed at what she had done, hugging Bra tightly. The blue haired girl only watched, eyes wide and full of tears as the attack got closer, and closer. She looked down at the arena, maintaining eye contact with her father. "Daddy..?" She whimpered, as a tear from her eye fell.

At that moment, it was as though a switch had been flipped in Vegeta. The energy beam had just barely reached the Z-Fighters and the saiyan moved his arm at the last second, directing the attack away from his daughter. Fortunately, it hadn't killed the Z-fighters in the stands but unfortunately, it killed a lot of other people that were still watching in the audience.

All of it was too much for Bulma, who had fainted but was caught by Yamcha and Chi-Chi. Pan stood by her friend, rubbing her back as Bra cried. She watched, seeing Goku visibly relax for a second at his wife and child being okay before his full attention was directed towards Vegeta.

Before he could say anything, Gohan had run in front of his father. "Stand down Vegeta, this isn't you!" With his interference, Pan saw whatever part of Vegeta that saved them disappear as he scowled. "Silence!" He snarled, swiping his hand. That alone was enough to push Gohan out of the way, causing him to land on the ground, roughly. "Don't you dare interfere!" He growled. Vegeta turned back to Goku, smirking. "This fight is between me and Kakarot."

Scowling, and realizing he wouldn't be able to get through to him, Goku said, "Okay." He continued, lowly. "I'll fight you, Vegeta. But I won't hold back." Pan watched as her father turned super. Her eyes widened; Vegeta's power alone far exceeded anything she had ever felt before but now, her father's rivaled his easily. Were they really going to fight here? If Goten and Trunks' fight caused some destruction, their fathers fighting at their full power would undoubtedly kill them!

Goku grit his teeth at Vegeta before turning to the sky. "Babidi!" He said. "I want you to transport us somewhere away from people! Only then will I fight him."

Nothing happened for a few tense seconds before the small group was transported away, leaving many traumatized audience members and an insanely distressed mother and daughter.

Bulma had recovered, as Chi-Chi was now rubbing her friend's back. The blunette gave her a thankful yet sad smile before looking down. "This doesn't make any sense." She murmured. "That wasn't… That _couldn't _have been Vegeta."

Bra sniffled, whimpering at the thought of what had just happened crossed her mind. "What's going on?" she asked, desperately, trying to find some solace from her father's actions. The Z-Fighters currently present couldn't answer her. Fortunately, Eighteen, who had appeared near the small group, could.

"I can explain." The android said, causing everybody to look at her. "While we were still waiting, Shin had revealed that he and Kibito were Kai's. They were apparently sent to earth to stop a monster called Majin Buu from awakening. Those two men that attacked Gohan were under some sort of spell a wizard called Babidi put on them. He's the one trying to release Majin Buu."

What Trunks had mentioned earlier suddenly hit the two girls and they gasped. Bra had rushed over to Eighteen, grabbing the android's hand and looking up at her with wide, hopeful eyes. "So it wasn't really daddy that killed those people? It was Babidi?" she asked.

"I'm pretty sure, kiddo." Eighteen murmured, rubbing the top of Bra's head. The blunette sighed in relief, the android successful in relieving some of her distress.

"So what do we do now?" Yamcha asked, and everybody looked at him. "Even if it wasn't exactly Vegeta who killed those people, they're still dead."

Chi-Chi's eyes widened as an idea came to her. "The dragon balls!" she said. "We can find the Dragon balls and use them to bring those people back to life!"

"You're right!" Bulma said. She stood up and there was a bright spark as her eyes burned with determination. "I have a jet capsule and dragon radar we can use!"

"Let's go." Eighteen nodded, and the group was off.

**XxX**

Meanwhile, Trunks and Goten were currently making their way to where they believed their fathers as well as everybody else was. They had met with Videl along the way, who had informed them of the Majin Buu and Babidi situation. With the disappointment of losing the adult tournament against Eighteen, the two boys were itching to fight and they sped off as soon as Videl finished speaking to them. Some of that excitement wavered, however, when they neared the area and Goten couldn't sense his older brother's Ki.

"Maybe he's off fighting somewhere else." Trunks reassured. Goten frowned. "I hope you're right." He said.

The two came along a rocky, deserted looking area when the younger hybrid finally spot something. "Look!" he exclaimed, pointing down at a rock. Trunks followed his gaze to find a familiar Namekian, as well as another friend. "Its Mr. Piccolo! And Krillin!"

The two hybrids landed near them, to both men's surprise. "What are you doing here?!" Piccolo grunted. "We heard about what was happening." Trunks answered. His hands were clenched into fists. Goten added, "We wanna help!"

Piccolo looked like he was about to say something, to which Trunks interrupted him as he sensed another familiar Ki. "Dad!" he exclaimed, rushing around the rock to find his father. "Trunks, no!" Piccolo called, running after him but by then it was already too late.

Trunks froze at the particular and quite horrific scene in front of him. Vegeta was currently tied down, wrapped in some sort of pink blob while a monster made from the same material was on top of him, giving him a brutal beating, repeatedly punching his face.

Seeing his father, the same strong-willed man who had taught him and Bra to be nothing but proud of who they were and where they came from, in such a position angered him. Trunks felt his power level begin to rise as he scowled down at the monster, shaking.

"Stay where you are, Trunks." Piccolo ordered, seeing the lavender haired hybrid twitch. "We don't want to lose you too; there's nothing you can do now! You'll only cause Vegeta more pain if you get involved!"

Piccolo's words fell on deaf ears as the sight of his father's beating, his father's _murder_, technically, was too much for Trunks to bear. With a yell, the eight year old had turned super and he was rushing towards the monster at a terrifyingly fast pace.

"Trunks, wait!" Goten called, immediately powering up and moving to go after his friend. Piccolo grabbed the back of his shirt before he could. "Goten," Piccolo said, looking up at the small saiyan, "I'm not letting you go out there. You'll just make things worse!"

"Let me go!" Goten ordered. "Trunks needs my help!"

Piccolo looked down, his grip on Goten tightening. Scowling, Goten yelled, "If I were Gohan, you'd let me go, wouldn't you!?"

Shocked, Piccolo's grip on Goten suddenly loosened, allowing the hybrid to fly towards his friend. "Goten, no!" Piccolo yelled. The arm that was holding Goten was still outward and it shook as his hand closed up into a fist.

"Goten…" Piccolo gritted, watching as the hybrids flew off towards Majin Buu. Idiots! He berated them in his head. Truly idiots and there was no denying they were saiyans… The sudden and scary thought of Majin Buu killing the two hybrids crossed his mind and Piccolo felt his heart clench at the fact that he would have to be the one to tell Bra and Bulma, Chi-Chi and Pan, those who had already lost so much that their sons and brothers were now dead too. He thought of how they would react, how Bra would react to the news of her older brother getting murdered, how Pan would react with the half of her, gone.

And suddenly, the thought of Goten rushing to fight Buu turned to Gohan and the same horrible feeling, the same one that Piccolo had felt when he learned his young protégé had been murdered by the same monster returned.

"Piccolo!" Krillin gasped as the Namekian let out an angered yell, rushing off after the two hybrids against his better judgement.

A bald-headed, beady-eyed yellow man cackled as he floated above the scene. Babidi was pleased such a strong warrior like Vegeta was getting pummeled by his Buu… It was pathetic, really. Suddenly, a beam of gold rushed right past him. He yelped as another one rushed past his other side, the wizard barely able to collect himself.

Buu was stomping on Vegeta now, laughing happily as the Saiyan prince let out pained grunts with each hit. He was so caught up in his fun that he didn't notice Trunks approaching him, not until the eight year old super saiyan was close, yelling as he kicked Buu right in the face. The pink monster flew back suddenly, being caught by surprise.

The hybrid landed, right on time for Goten to exclaim, "Trunks!" He turned back to find Goten already pulling at the end of whatever was wrapped around his father. "Dad!" Trunks exclaimed, rushing over to help his friend. With their combined effort, they were able to carefully free Vegeta, but even freed, the prince was horrifyingly still.

"Come on dad." Trunks begged as he and Goten knelt over him. He lay his hands on his father's bruised biceps and shook him gently. "Wake up!"

When Vegeta was unresponsive, Trunks got more frantic. "Please!" he begged, shaking his father more. "Please wake up! Dad! _Dad!' _

Vegeta wasn't moving. Trunks fell back, gritting his teeth. Goten, with his eyebrows pinched, asked worriedly, "Is he alive?"

"Of course he is!" Trunks snapped, turning to his friend and startling him. Tears had formed on the corner of his eyes as he said, "My dad's the toughest guy in the whole world!"

Goten tried reasoning, "Yeah, but he got hurt real bad."

"Hey Goten." Trunks scowled. "Clean out your ears and listen to me, okay?" The hybrid was too caught up in the moment, not even rolling his eyes when his friend took his order literally. Trunks continued, "My mom, she told me and Bra that our dad used to be the prince of every single saiyan!"

Goten gasped. "He's a prince?" he asked. "That's right!" Trunks declared. "He's a prince, Goten. A prince!" He turned back towards his father. "And there's no way a prince could lose to a stupid monster!"

At those words, Vegeta suddenly let out a few rugged breaths, struggling to crack open one eye. The hybrids reacted, Goten exclaiming, "He's awake!" while Trunks encouraged, "That's it, dad!"

"T-Trunks… Son…" Vegeta said, weakly. He struggled to move his head and open his eyes fully, but when he did he was greeted by the two saiyan hybrids, both beaming happily. Vegeta grunted, moving himself to sit up. Trunks and Goten made room while the lavender haired hybrid helped his father. Vegeta moved himself to a sitting position before what had happened hit him.

"Wait!" He exclaimed, tearing himself away from Trunks as he scowled, looking around the area. "Where is Majin Buu?!"

Trunks shook his head, still smiling. "Its okay dad! Me and Goten took care of him!" "Yeah, that guy's toast!" Goten chimed.

Vegeta stood up, gritting his teeth. "No…" he murmured and the hybrids looked at him with wide eyes. The prince was looking past them, where he could sense Majin Buu's energy. Vegeta glanced upwards, catching sight of Piccolo, who was hovering above them. He directed his gaze straightforward once again.

"Trunks." He said, and his son looked at him. "Listen. You need to take good care of your mother and sister." Trunks, not understanding where his father was going, repeated, "Take care of them?" He shook his head. "You can do that too, right?"

Vegeta didn't answer him, and Trunks felt a panic begin to well up inside of him. He said again, "You can take care of mom and Bra too, can't you Dad?" Vegeta still wasn't answering and Trunks pressed, "Dad, why would you say that? Why can't you take care of them too? A-Are you going somewhere?"

Finally, Vegeta answered him.

"I want you two to leave and get far away from here." The prince ordered. Trunks' eyes widened. "As for Buu... I'll fight him alone." Vegeta concluded.

Trunks couldn't help the gasp that escaped him. Goten, who was also looking at Vegeta with wide eyes, said, "Don't do that!"

"Goten's right!" Trunks said. "We'll fight with you! You don't want to get killed, do you? You've got to let us help you, Dad!" He exclaimed, believing this was his father's ego talking. He smiled as he turned to Goten. "You in?" Trunks asked and Goten nodded before Trunks turned back to his father. "See? We're with you!"

"Stop it." Vegeta snapped. "Its too dangerous for you two. I'll finish this by myself."

Goten, ever optimistic, pressed. "Come on!" he exclaimed. "It'll be easier to beat him with me and Trunks!"

"We'll gang up on him!" Trunks added. "He won't know what hit him!"

"Yeah!" Goten continued. "We're tough! We can even beat that big blob without your help, right Trunks?"

"You bet!"

"We might do even better than you did!"

At that, being too carried away, both hybrids slapped their hands over their mouths in fear they had upset Vegeta. Fortunately, the saiyan didn't seem to mind or even hear what they had said.

"Trunks," Vegeta said instead. Trunks removed the hand from his mouth and looked at his father. Vegeta continued, "You're my only son and yet I haven't held you since you were a baby, have I?"

Trunks blinked. While it was true, it wasn't like he minded. Showing love physically was more of his sister's preference, hence Vegeta holding her many times. He knew his father showed his own love to him, which was just as much love as Vegeta had for his daughter.

Vegeta finally turned, looking down at Trunks. "Come here, son." He said, holding a hand out. Trunks hesitated and Vegeta took the initiative, moving forward for the both of them. On instinct, Trunks stepped back.

"Dad, what's wrong?" Trunks asked as Vegeta gathered him in his arms, hugging his son. "This is embarrassing." The hybrid muttered, his head pressed against his father's chest. He did admit though; it was a pleasant surprise that his father was acting this way and he couldn't stop the smile that formed when he said, "Come on, cut it out."

Vegeta didn't, keeping his son pressed against him. They stayed like this for a few minutes before Vegeta finally said, "Trunks," causing the hybrid to look up at him. "there's something you must know."

A smirk, one very close to a genuine smile, graced Vegeta's lips. "You've made me proud, son."

Trunks' eyes widened. Before he could ask his father anything, Vegeta reared his arm sideways before hitting his son on the neck, quickly and effectively knocking him out. Trunks' hair turned from golden to lavender as he fell, his eyes wide and full of shock before he collapsed, his eyes closed.

Goten yelled out, concerned for his friend. He then directed his scowl towards Vegeta. "Why did you do that?!" he demanded. "What's wrong with you, why did you do that to Trunks?! You might've killed him!" he exclaimed.

From where he was, Piccolo watched the scene quietly, finally understanding what Vegeta was doing.

Goten was still yelling at the saiyan, having rushed over to Vegeta, grabbing his waist and shaking him slightly. "You're his dad! Dads aren't supposed to do bad things to their sons, why did you did you hit him?!" Distressed and angry, Goten cried, "Why did you hurt him like that?!"

Vegeta didn't answer him. Goten felt his frustration build up but before anything could happen, the saiyan knelt down to his height, punching him straight on the stomach.

Goten gasped as it was easily strong enough to knock him out of his super form, his arms going around the injured area as he fell to his knees. Eventually, the pain was too much and Goten fell, confused and betrayed.

**XxX**

Pan gasped.

The little group was currently gathered outside of Capsule Corp, having easily found all seven Dragon balls thanks to Bulma's radar and ship. Bra, being the one next to her best friend, noticed her tense.

"What's wrong?" She asked. Pan shook her head. "I-I dunno." She admitted. "B-But something's not right." She frowned, worriedly as she looked up at Bra. "I think something happened to Goten and Trunks!"

Before Bra could press, the seven balls had been placed on the grass, in front of Bulma. The blunette held her arms out, yelling, "Rise, Shenron!"

A few seconds passed and suddenly the balls began to glow. The hybrids huddled together and watched as the skies turned dark and light emitted from the Dragon balls, taking shape. Their breaths caught in their throat as the mighty Shenron floated before them. He was much bigger than they could have ever imagined and so powerful that it was almost overwhelming. But it was an amazing thing to experience and Pan nearly forgot her previous distress.

"I have been summoned." Shenron said and his voice itself shook the ground. "State your wish."

Bulma said, "I wish to bring back all the good people killed today by servants of Babidi."

Shenron's eyes emitted a red glow for a moment before it faded. "It has been done." Shenron said. "State your next wish."

Bulma opened her mouth to say something when a familiar voice suddenly yelled, "Stop!" Everybody turned, finding Goku standing near the small group, making his way to them. The Z-Fighters parted to make way for Goku as he stepped forward, looking up at Shenron. "Thank you, Shenron, but we aren't in need of any more wishes today." He bowed.

Shenron let out a low rumble and his eyes glowed before his body turned back into the light which returned to the Dragon balls. Once the lights had returned, the dragon balls took off into the air, flying to different directions.

Pan and Bra looked at each other when the Dragon balls fully disappeared, the sky going back to normal. "What's going on?" Chi-Chi asked her husband worriedly. He shook his head. "I'll explain everything. But first I've got to get everybody onto the Lookout, okay?"

Chi-Chi bit her lip but trusted in her husband. The Z-Fighters gathered around Goku, Pan grabbing Chi-Chi's and Videl's hands while Bra grabbed Bulma's and Eighteen's, and the feeling of Instant Transmission filled the air. Before they knew it, the small group was on the Lookout.

Pan and Bra regrouped as the Z-Fighters dispersed, feeling her worry grow when she saw Piccolo and Krillin, but no Trunks, Goten, Gohan or Vegeta.

"Goku…" Chi-Chi said, looking around. When she didn't find what she was seeking, her eyes fell on her husband. "Where are Goten and Gohan?"

Goku wasn't answering her. Piccolo and Krillin were looking down. "Goku," Chi-Chi repeated, a tad bit frantic, "where are our sons?"

Goku still couldn't bring himself to answer her. It wasn't until he had gotten a glance at his daughter. "Papa," Pan whimpered, shaking as tension and her father's refusal to answer was scaring her, "Where are Goten and Nii-san?"

Everybody was looking at him now and Goku sighed, shutting his eyes. "What I have to tell you isn't exactly easy for me to say right now," He reopened his eyes and looked at everybody, "but… Goten and Trunks…"

Pan and Bra held their breaths, fearing the worst.

"… Are going to be alright."

The girls felt themselves relax as a brief sense of relief filled the both of them. It vanished as soon as it came, however, with absolute heartbreak and an ice cold feeling replacing it when Goku added, "But Gohan and Vegeta…

… Are dead."

The Son and Briefs' women's eyes, including Videl's, widened at the news. "Majin Buu…" Goku said. "Killed them both."

"No…" Videl murmured. "Not Gohan… No, no, He can't be-!"

Chi-Chi, at the mention of her eldest son, her baby boy's, death, let out a shocked sob. "No," she whimpered, her knees getting weak. Goku was there to catch her as she fell against his chest. "No," she repeated, with Goku rubbing her back, "our… Our baby…" Chi-Chi whispered brokenly and Goku shut his eyes, pressing his forehead against his wife's as she began to cry, mourning the loss of her son.

"Vegeta," Bulma whimpered as tears fell from her eyes. It was too hard to believe, too impossible. That same morning, she had woken up with her husband, happy and excited. That same afternoon, she had witnessed him save the lives of her and her daughter. Thoughts of Vegeta suddenly filled her and it became overbearing. She wasn't able to contain them and all the hurt, pain, and sorrow and grief filled her as she let out a heartbroken screech, screaming for her husband.

"Bulma!" Yamcha gasped as the woman's outburst had startled her daughter, who was next to her. "Please, pull yourself together!" he begged, placing his hands on Bulma's shoulders.

Bra covered her mouth as tears fell from her eyes. First her father's death and then her mother's outburst… It was unlike anything she had ever seen and it scared her. Bra choked on multiple sobs but ultimately couldn't stop herself as she began crying, _wailing _at the reveal of their current situation. Pan gathered her friend in a hug, offering to be her support even when her own tears over her older brother's death fell from her eyes.

Everybody else on the Lookout lowered their heads, some crying over the losses while some were clenching their hands in anger, wanting to avenge their fallen comrades. Either way, it had left everybody wondering how such a happy day had ended up like this.

**. . . **

**Uh angst aside, DB memes are the funniest things I swear,,,**


	13. Chapter 13

Nearly an hour had passed after the Z-fighters learned the devastating news of what had happened to Gohan and Vegeta. Chi-Chi had passed out due to the horror of the situation and Ox King was fanning her lightly. Bulma had managed to control her outburst and soon after apologized to Bra for scaring her. She currently held her daughter, who's wails had been reduced to sniffles and hiccups.

Pan sat near the steps to an entrance on the Lookout, the tears that she had shed earlier now dried on her cheeks. The news of Gohan and Vegeta dying by Buu's hands had shaken her more than anything she'd ever experienced but, she told herself, she needed to be strong. Her mama was hurting and her best friend was devastated. Their family had been torn apart.

How could this have happened?

Before tears could form, Pan felt somebody sit next to her, a hand squeezing her shoulder.

"Papa," Pan murmured, turning. Even sitting, her father was way taller than her. But even as she craned her neck, she could feel the reassurance she received from him. Just looking at his kind, calm expression told her everything would be okay. She gave him a wet smile as his grip shifted from her shoulder to holding her hand.

"Goten and Trunks are awake." Goku murmured and Pan squeezed his hand again. She'd heard them. She was sure everybody had heard them. Goku and Piccolo had broken the news to them and they'd not reacted well.

_"What?! No, that can't be!" Trunks had cried. "That could never happen to my dad! No way!" He kept protesting but with every denial, his voice shook more and more. _

_Goten, meanwhile, was wailing. "My brother is NOT dead!" He'd shouted. _

_More tears leaked from Bra's cheeks as her brother's and Goten's cries got louder. Pan stood next to her, gripping her hand tightly. They'd been advised to stay away from the boys when Goku and Piccolo broke the news to them, due to the outburst that they were sure would follow. _

_It did. _

_Never before had Bra heard her brother wail like that, not when he'd gotten hurt during training and not even when she'd broken one of his favorite toys years ago. But getting physically hurt and losing a parent were different kinds of pain. She'll never forget the way her mother had screamed. She'll never forget anything that happened today. _

_Pan had heard Goten cry more than a few times. They were both emotional, but Pan would make the argument that he was even more so. She'd cried at the news of Gohan's passing so she wasn't surprised when her twin had reacted the same way. However the amount of sorrow and dread that filled Pan at that exact moment, as if her pain from learning about Gohan had doubled, was almost too much to bear. _

_The boys had broken down and the girls were close to following them. _

"Are they okay?" Pan asked, though she already knew the answer. The only reason her father was out here now instead of inside with the boys was because they'd needed a bit of time to calm themselves and pull themselves together. Goku had hesitated. "... No," he admitted.

Goten and Trunks... Goten, Trunks _and _Pan and Bra were so young. His youngest children were only 7 with Trunks a year older than them. It brought him even _more _disdain when he learned that Bra was younger than _all _of them. He couldn't imagine how they must be feeling; to go from such a normal day to a horror show in the span of a few hours.

As much as he hated to admit it, he and the other Z-fighters had witnessed this before. With a monster named Frieza, a monster named Cell. And even before the two of them, _Vegeta_ had been the monster.

But these _children_... They'd (fortunately) been born after those horrors. Goku didn't anticipate that something this bad would occur, especially after he'd killed Cell. He'd died with the hope that his family would grow up and live their lives _safe. _

Now he was witnessing his wife grieve the death of their eldest child.

As much hurt Goku felt now, he could also say there was pride within him. There was pride when he saw his daughter try to remain strong. There was pride when, even though Goten and Trunks had cried out, they'd stopped when he'd told them to, had stepped up to the challenge with hard determination and resolve in their eyes.

No, these children weren't okay now...

"But they're strong." Goku continued, smiling down at Pan when the girl had looked up at him, surprised. "You all are. It may not seem okay now, but it will be."

At the words, a smile still wet but less nervous and more sincere formed on Pan's lips and she'd hugged Goku, allowing just a few more tears to slip from her eyes.

They'd separated a moment after, Pan drying her tears when a thought suddenly hit her. "Papa," she said, calling Goku's attention, "When you were yelling, you said that Trunks and Goten had to learn something."

Goku grimaced. Though he'd mentioned how proud he was that the boys had pushed past their pain, he did admit that he was quite harsh in what he'd ordered them to do.

_"I said stop that!" Goku had yelled when he saw more tears slip down Goten's and Trunks' cheeks. Their mouths were closed but their lips, as well as their entire bodies, trembled. "There'll be no more tears from now on. You will have to be tough to stop Majin Buu!" _

_At that moment, the trembling had ceased. Both boys' eyes were originally downcast, but slowly, surely, they finally looked up. _

_Goku met cerulean blue eyes first and if not for the situation, he would have taken a step back out of shock. He'd seen those eyes before, the skin around them older. But make no mistake; the resoluteness in Trunks' eyes reminded him terribly of Mirai. _

_Goten had looked up after him, and Goku could see himself in his eyes. He wasn't kidding earlier when he'd seen his son for the first time. Goten had taken especially after him, and it was here that Goku was hit once again with the regret of the reality that these two boys in front of him, who weren't even __**ten**__, had to face up against a ruthless monster; the same monster who had managed to kill two of the strongest saiyans he knew. _

"You said it was something," Pan said, breaking Goku out of his thoughts, "called fusion."

Goku nodded. "Its a technique that I learned when I was in the Other World." He explained. "Is," Pan hesitated, "is it really something the boys can use to help them beat Majin Buu?" She asked.

"Its a dance that basically combines two people into one." Goku replied. He smiled down at Pan when he added, "If I'm right, this means that Goten and Trunks' power will combine and it'll be double than what it would've been with either of them alone."

Pan's eyes widened at the thought of the boys' powers combining; Trunks and Goten were by far the strongest saiyans she knew besides Papa, Nii-San and Vegeta. And as much as it hurt her, those three wouldn't exactly be able to defend them should they face Majin Buu. They were already able to go super too! Together, they had more of a chance of...

She had trailed off on that thought when another one struck her. Quickly, she'd grabbed Goku's hands with both of her tiny ones. He looked down at her, but before he could ask, she'd blurted, "Teach me and Bra as well!"

Goku blinked, surprised, but Pan continued, "I-I know we're not as strong as the boys b-but we're still saiyans! Maybe combining mine and Bra's power would help as well!" Her grip tightened. "Please, Papa."

Goku stared at her for a good few seconds before sighing. Bulma and Chi-Chi were definitely _not _going to be happy with him but Pan _did _have a point.

"Okay. Let's-"

A sudden, sharp _RING! _resounded throughout and Pan cried out, surprised. Goku had pulled her closer to him, putting his other arm around her protectively, though he was glaring up at the sky with grit teeth. Pan, still confused but quite startled, looked up to try and see what her father was glaring at when suddenly the ring came again and she'd yelped.

_**"People of Earth," **_a high-pitched, grating voice greeted from the sky. Pan felt herself inch closer to her father. _**"My name is Babidi, and I am looking for three people by the names of Piccolo, Trunks and Goten..." **_


End file.
